Another strike in Bangladesh; political foes battle

DHAKA, Feb 15 (Reuters): The eighth general strike in just three weeks largely paralysed Bangladesh today and the country's main Opposition party said there would be no let up in its campaign to oust Prime Minister Khaleda Zia from power.

Most buses and cars were off the roads and many offices and business establishments were shut.

The Opposition Awami Leage vowed there would be no respite until Khaleda resigned, while the government warned it would crack down hard on trouble-makers and said it had no intention of leaving office until its term ends in 2006.

Strikes, which force traffic off the streets and close down offices and factories, are a common form of political protest in the entire region, but impoverished Bangladesh has had more than its fair share of stoppages in recent years.

Each day of strike is estimated to cost the poor nation 60 million dollars and business leaders have pleaded with both the Opposition and the ruling party and the two women who head them to prevent lasting harm to the economy.

"Let the economy live ...

please spare it from strikes," said Abdul Awal Minto, President of the Federation of Bangladesh Chambers of Commerce and Industry.

While the Awami League has no immediate plans for more strikes, it is unlikely to let up.

"We will give them no respite...there will be more strikes, blockades and a siege, if needed, to force the corrupt and repressive government out," said Tofayel Ahmed, a senior Awami leader and former Commerce Minister.

"The government has failed to provide security to the country's people and is persecuting political opponents in a bid to cling to power," Tofayel tol Reuters.

"We are not interested in any sort of discussion with this killer government.

We have one thing to say, that is they should resign." There is little love lost between the Awami League and the ruling Bangladesh Nationalist Party but the Opposition group has been adamant about forcing the government out since a bomb blast at a meeting addressed by Awami leader Sheik Hasina in August.

Hasina was not hurt but 19 other people were killed.

The opposition leader turned down an offer from Khaleda to meet after the incident.

The latest round of strikes began after a bomb blast at an Awami meeting in January killed a former Finance Minister and four other people.

Many Awami League activists accuse fundamentalists close to Islamic parties that are part of the ruling alliance of being behind the attacks.

The government denies the allegations and says it is doing all it can to find the culprits.

Such is the bad blood and mistrust between Hasina and Khaleda that the two women have not talked to each other for 14 years.

But they have much in common.

Iraq Shi'ites debate PM choice, allies after poll BAGHDAD, Feb 15 (Reuters): Iraq's main Shi'ite alliance, fresh from winning landmark elections, gathered yesterday to choose a candidate for prime minister and the allies it needs after failing to win an absolute majority.

The political moves come as President George W.

Bush sent Congress an 82 billion dollars package to fund military operations in Iraq and Afghanistan, pushing the total bill for both conflicts to nearly 300 billion dollars.

The alliance, which won 48 percent of votes cast on the Jan.

30, far short of the 60 percent it expected, will need other parties' support if it is to dominate the National Assembly, where a two-third's majority is needed to form a government.

Analysts expect the Kurds, who won 25 percent of the vote, to be kingmakers in negotiations over who will take the top government positions as Iraqis look towards a reduction of the US military presence and eventual withdrawal.

Sunni Arabs, most of whom either boycotted the vote or did not turn out because of violence, look set to get barely five seats in the assembly, leaving Iraq's once dominant minority out in the cold.

That could heighten sectarian tensions.

There are also fears of a rise in ethnic tensions around the divided city of Kirkuk, where Kurds won about 60 percent of the local vote after many Arabs and Turkmen, who also lay claim to the oil-rich city, boycotted the election.

Bush's emergency request includes 74.9 billion dollars for the Defense Department, including 5.7 billion dollars to accelerate the training and equipping of Iraqi security forces to combat a deadly insurgency that continues almost two years after the 2003 invasion.

Bush said the extra money is so Iraqis "can assume greater responsibility for their own security and our troops can return home," though he set no timetable.

In Baghdad, doubts arose over whether the United Iraqi Alliance, an Islamist coalition backed by Iraq's top Shi'ite cleric, Ayatollah Ali al-Sistani, would hold together despite its electoral win, an issue on the agenda on Monday.

"It's a critical day for us.

After today everything will be resolved," said a member of one of the alliance's main parties.

The grouping, which is headed by two religious Shi'ite parties, the Supreme Council for the Islamic Revolution in Iraq (SCIRI) and Dawa, also brings together a medley of independents, secular Shi'ites, some Sunni Arabs and Turkmen.

"All details are being discussed minutely," said another senior member of the alliance.

"Today we will agree on the prime minister, the ministers, and all other details, including if the alliance will stay together." The talks are being held at the office of Abdel-Aziz al- Hakim, the turbaned leader of SCIRI, who was photographed crying and holding his head in his hands after the results on Sunday showed the alliance failed to win an absolute majority.

While the alliance won slightly less than half the vote, it could end up with about 140 seats in the assembly, two more than a majority, once all those votes that went to candidates who didn't get enough to secure a seat are redistributed.

The Kurds' second place showing means they will get around 70 seats in the assembly.

A list headed by interim Prime Minister Iyad Allawi came third and will have about 40 seats.

Iraq's two main Kurdish parties, which ran together, have agreed that Jalal Talabani, the leader of the Patriotic Union of Kurdistan, will be their candidate for a senior government position and Talabani has indicated he wants the presidency.

Iraq's new government will have a president and two vice-presidents, all largely ceremonial roles, who must be approved by two-thirds of the assembly.

Once they are named, they will choose a prime minister and agree on a cabinet of ministers who must be approved by a majority.

Horse-trading to decide all those positions is already in full swing.

If the Kurds do receive the presidency, then the Shi'ites are expected to take the prime minister's post.

The United Iraqi Alliance has several potential candidates, including Ibrahim al-Jaafari, the head of Dawa, and Adel Abdul- Mahdi, a member of SCIRI who is currently finance minister.

Ahmad Chalabi, the former Pentagon favourite who campaigned to overthrow Saddam, is also mentioned as a candidate.

His rival Allawi, a secular Shi'ite with strong ties to the US administration, is manoeuvring to try to retain his job.

In Paris, about 30 singers put on a free concert in a show of support for a French female journalist and her Iraqi translator, missing in Iraq and believed to have been kidnapped.

Florence Aubenas of France's Liberation daily newspaper has not been seen since leaving a Baghdad hotel on Jan.

5 in the company of her translator, Hussein Hanoun Al Saidi.

Iraqi President Ghazi al-Yawar said last month she had been kidnapped.