Bangladesh pre-poll violence worries UN chief Ban Ki-moon

United Nations: UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon has expressed concern over the latest wave of violence in Bangladesh ahead of parliamentary elections due in the country in January. The UN chief “calls on all concerned to respect the rule of law, exercise restraint and to express their views peacefully”, reported Xinhua citing Ban’s spokesperson in a statement Thursday. [caption id=“attachment_1205657” align=“alignleft” width=“380”]  Violent clashes have broken out in Bangladesh. Reuters.[/caption] The UN chief urged all parties to ensure an environment “conducive to credible and peaceful elections”. The fresh wave of violence broke out Oct 25 after former prime minister Khaleda Zia’s 18-party alliance asked its supporters to take to streets for pressing its demand for restoring the non-party caretaker government to oversee the elections. At least a dozen people were killed and many injured in the violence. The general elections in the South Asian country are to be held within 90 days of the expiration of the parliament, which was due to be dissolved last week in accordance with the country’s constitution. This would require elections should be held between before the end of January 2014. IANS