01-11-2007, 11:16 PM
As expected. <!--emo&
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<b>State of emergency declared in Bangladesh</b><!--QuoteBegin-->QUOTE<!--QuoteEBegin-->The declaration of emergency came after the<b> United Nations has suspended all technical support for elections that have been boycotted by the opposition and are looking increasingly chaotic and possibly untenable.</b>
<b>The European Commission said on Thursday it had also decided to suspend its poll observation mission.</b>
<b>The interim caretaker government stood firm on Thursday in its pledge to hold elections on January 22 despite the boycott by a multi-party alliance headed by former prime minister Sheikh Hasina on grounds the ballot would not be free and impartial</b>.
At least 45 people have been killed and hundreds injured in pre-election violence and police say they fear far worse to come.
UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon noted the situation had deteriorated to the point that the US-based National Democratic Institute for International Affairs and the International Republican Institute were refusing to monitor the elections.
<b>"The political crisis in Bangladesh has severely jeopardised the legitimacy of the electoral process,"</b> Ban said in a statement released on Thursday in Dhaka.
"The announced cancellation of numerous international observation missions is regrettable. The United Nations has had to suspend all technical support to the electoral process, including by closing its International Coordination Office for Election Observers in Dhaka," Ban said
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Democracy in Muslim nation is impossible.
--><img src='style_emoticons/<#EMO_DIR#>/biggrin.gif' border='0' style='vertical-align:middle' alt='biggrin.gif' /><!--endemo--> <b>State of emergency declared in Bangladesh</b><!--QuoteBegin-->QUOTE<!--QuoteEBegin-->The declaration of emergency came after the<b> United Nations has suspended all technical support for elections that have been boycotted by the opposition and are looking increasingly chaotic and possibly untenable.</b>
<b>The European Commission said on Thursday it had also decided to suspend its poll observation mission.</b>
<b>The interim caretaker government stood firm on Thursday in its pledge to hold elections on January 22 despite the boycott by a multi-party alliance headed by former prime minister Sheikh Hasina on grounds the ballot would not be free and impartial</b>.
At least 45 people have been killed and hundreds injured in pre-election violence and police say they fear far worse to come.
UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon noted the situation had deteriorated to the point that the US-based National Democratic Institute for International Affairs and the International Republican Institute were refusing to monitor the elections.
<b>"The political crisis in Bangladesh has severely jeopardised the legitimacy of the electoral process,"</b> Ban said in a statement released on Thursday in Dhaka.
"The announced cancellation of numerous international observation missions is regrettable. The United Nations has had to suspend all technical support to the electoral process, including by closing its International Coordination Office for Election Observers in Dhaka," Ban said
<!--QuoteEnd--><!--QuoteEEnd-->
Democracy in Muslim nation is impossible.