Former Bangladesh Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina, released from jail on parole, left Dhaka on Thursday for the United States for medical treatment. She boarded a British Airways flight to London en route to the United States, officials at the airport said.
Before leaving, Hasina briefly met senior leaders of her Awami League political party at the airport and asked them to remain united in her absence. "We assured her of the party's unity," Syed Ashraful Islam, general secretary of Awami League, told reporters. He said Hasina also asked them to prepare for a parliamentary election due in December.