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Opposition vows to seize Bangladesh capital

Bangladesh's opposition political alliance was set to seize the capital, Dhaka, on Sunday to demand the resignation of Prime Minister Khaleda Zia and reforms, an alliance spokesman said.
/ Source: The Associated Press

Bangladesh's opposition political alliance was set to seize the capital, Dhaka, on Sunday to demand the resignation of Prime Minister Khaleda Zia and reforms, an alliance spokesman said.

The 14-party alliance, led by former Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina, has asked its supporters to block all entry points to Dhaka — a city of 10 million people, said opposition spokesman Tofayel Ahmed.

Ahmed told reporters that no vehicles would be allowed to enter or leave Dhaka for five hours Sunday, and that opposition supporters were set to demonstrate at all six of its main entry points.

Authorities plan to deploy about 20,000 security officials in and around the city to keep the situation under control, said the country's police chief, Abdul Qaiyum.

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