 "As Bangladesh waits for election, Khaleda Zia flies to London in plane sent by Emir of Qatar")
Bangladesh’s former Prime Minister Khaleda Zia, who is unwell, flew to London on a special royal air ambulance sent by Emir of Qatar on Tuesday for medical treatment, The Dhaka Tribune reported.
Zahiruddin Swapan, an adviser to Zia, told The Associated Press that the three-time former prime minister and leader of the Bangladesh Nationalist Party left Dhaka’s Hazrat Shahjalal International Airport late Tuesday on an air ambulance. Swapan added that senior leaders of the party were at the airport to see her off.
Zia’s convoy took almost three hours to travel a 10-kilometer route to the airport from her home in Dhaka’s Gulshan area. Thousands of her supporters lined the way, causing heavy traffic. The long journey was shown live on television.
Zia was accompanied by her doctors, family, and assistants. Also, a team of doctors from the Qatari government is on the plane.
Her ailments include liver cirrhosis, cardiac disease and kidney problems, according to her physician.
Unrest in Bangladesh and ouster of Sheikh Hasina
After weeks of mass protests led by students, former Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina resigned and fled the country in August 2024. The protests, which began over demands for changes to government job quotas, quickly turned into a wider anti-government movement. The unrest resulted in the deaths of about 300 people.
An interim government, led by Nobel Peace Prize laureate Muhammad Yunus, is currently in power and plans to hold elections either in December of this year or in the first half of 2026.
Zia was sentenced to 17 years in prison during ousted Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina’s rule due to two corruption cases from 2001-2006, when Zia was prime minister. Her supporters claim the charges were politically motivated, a charge which Hasina’s government has denied. Under Yunus, Zia was acquitted in one of the cases in November, and the appeal for the second case was being heard on Tuesday.
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