The release of detained former Bangladesh prime minister Begum Khaleda Zia is expected soon, and probably without any conditions attached, top officials in the army-backed interim government said on the weekend.
"She is going to be freed soon, unconditionally," retired major-general Golam Quader told reporters. He holds an "adviser" rank equivalent to a ministerial post in the interim authority. "The matter of her freedom is at the final stage," another adviser, Hossain Zillur Rahman, said late on Saturday.
Quader also said the government was considering the issue of release of Tareque Rahman, Khaleda's elder son and likely political heir. Tareque, who was detained for alleged corruption, has been sick in prison, and his mother wants him freed and sent abroad for treatment, officials said.
A release would end months of backdoor negotiations between Khaleda, detained since last year and facing trial over corruption charges, and the government, as it tries to set the stage for a free and credible parliamentary election in December, officials said.
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