US, UN raise concerns over violence ahead of Bangladesh election

The United States and the United Nations on Thursday raised concerns over the looming general election in Bangladesh as the opposition said hundreds more activists had been arrested and attacked. The South Asian nation's Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina used the last full day of campaigning to call for a record fourth term from Sunday's vote.
The opposition, whose main leader Khaleda Zia is in jail, said the election would not be free and fair. The US ambassador to Bangladesh Earl Miller said opposition parties have been the target of most of the deadly violence that has tarnished the campaign. He raised US worries in a meeting with election commission chief, K.M. Nurul Huda.
"I asked for this meeting because the United States is concerned by the high level of campaign violence over the last two weeks. All parties have been victims of violence, including minorities and female candidates," Miller said in a statement. "However, it appears opposition party candidates have borne the brunt of most violence."
Miller said he had questioned the election commission on its security plans for voting day. Everyone in Bangladesh must be able to vote "without harassment, intimidation, or violence", added the ambassador, whose country called off an election observer mission that it financed because visas were not given. Bangladesh has denied that it refused permission.
UN Secretary General Antonio Guterres also appealed for calm. Guterres "calls on all stakeholders to ensure an environment free of violence, intimidation and coercion before, during and after the elections, so as to enable a peaceful, credible and inclusive poll", said a spokesman for the UN chief. Bangladeshis "must feel safe and confident in exercising their right to vote", he added.
Thousands of flag-waving supporters of Hasina's ruling Awami League marched in Dhaka and other cities bringing the traffic-choked streets of the capital to a standstill ahead of the official close of campaigning early Friday. The main opposition Bangladesh Nationalist Party said it had been prevented from holding its closing rally in Dhaka. Thousands of its supporters were allowed to march through the northern city of Sylhet, however.
The BNP said eight of its supporters had been killed in election clashes, while police said two from the Awami League had also been killed since the campaign opened on November 8. The opposition party said hundreds more of its supporters were detained Thursday.