UPDATE - Bangladesh's president orders release of opposition leader Khaleda Zia

CHANGES DECK, ADDS DETAILS

By SM Najmus Sakib

DHAKA, Bangladesh (AA) - Bangladesh's president ordered the release of opposition leader Khaleda Zia late Monday, hours after Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina fled the country amid widespread protests.

A statement from President Mohammed Shahabuddin’s office said that all political parties had agreed to dissolve parliament to form a transitional government as announced earlier by army chief Gen. Waker-uz-Zaman.

The decision came after leaders of opposition parties including the Bangladesh Nationalist Party (BNP) and Jamaat-e-Islami party met Shahabuddin for talks.

Zia, the chairperson of the BNP and a two-term prime minister of Bangladesh (1991-1996 and 2001-2006), has been under arrest since 2018.

It added that all those detained during mass student protests will be released, while Zaman has pledged a probe into the deaths of protesters in recent days.

Shahabuddin later also addressed the nation, saying the families of the victims of the student movement will be compensated and the injured will be given the necessary assistance for medical treatment.

He also called on the political parties to restore law and order in the country and to stop looting and destructive activities.

“I am directing the armed forces to take strict action to protect the lives and property of the people and state assets,” he added.

A statement from the military said that all offices and schools will open starting Tuesday after weeks of violent demonstrations.

Earlier, student movement leaders blasted Hasina over alleged violations of human rights during her 15 years in power.

"We will bring Hasina to justice even if she has fled the country," Nahid Islam, a key coordinator of the protests, told a reporter in the capital Dhaka.

Islam said the outline of the transitional government will be formulated in the next 24 hours.

Last month, students launched protests against discrimination in public job recruitment, which put renewed pressure on the government after a court reinstated controversial quotas for government jobs.

The bloody protests claimed the lives of more than 430 people from July 16 until Aug. 5, according to local media reports. At least 266 occurred in July, according to local newspaper the Daily Naya Diganta.

Of the total, at least 154 people were killed in a fresh spell of protests on Sunday and Monday. At least 18 of them died from burn injuries Monday after some people set a residential hotel belonging to the ruling Awami League party on fire in southwestern Jashore district, according to the Daily Manab Zamin newspaper.