Bangladesh's former prime ministers Sheikh Hasina and Begum Khaleda Zia, dubbed the "battling begums" for their long-running enmity, exchanged good wishes for the first time in 18 years at a military ceremony on Friday. Hasina and Khaleda shook hands, smiled and spoke during Armed Forces Day at the Dhaka army barracks and were applauded by guests, including top officials of the army-backed interim government.
The interim government has called a parliamentary vote for December 18 to end nearly two years of emergency rule imposed after elections scheduled in January 2007 were delayed because of political violence. Hasina and Khaleda last sat down together in 1990 while they jointly led a people's revolt to oust military ruler Hossain Mohammad Ershad.
The pair rotated as prime ministers of the impoverished south Asian country over 15 years until October 2006 but did not speak to each other for that entire period. Hasina, who heads the Awami League, and Khaleda, leader of the Bangladesh Nationalist Party (BNP), shape as the main candidates for the December vote, although Khaleda has called for a delay.
While Hasina's party has already agreed to contest the vote, Khaleda's BNP and its allies are yet to agree formally to take part. The BNP and its allies met Election Commission officials on Friday and reiterated Khaleda's demand that the poll be delayed until December 28.
Khaleda and Hasina were both arrested last year for alleged corruption. They were released after a year in jail to persuade their parties to take part in the elections. Armed Forces Day marks the founding of the Bangladesh Army after Bangladesh won independence from Pakistan in 1971.
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