Dhaka- Bangladesh's military-backed interim government said Thursday that it would provide the highest security to two former prime ministers and leaders of the country's two biggest political parties during the December general election.

"We have decided in principle to provide them with the highest security coverage as they deserve it," an adviser to the government, Hossain Zillur Rahman, told reporters after electoral talks with the opposition Awami League party.

The interim government, led by Fakhruddin Ahmed, detained the two former prime ministers - Sheikh Hasina Wajed of the Awami League and Khaleda Zia of the Bangladesh Nationalist Party - on graft charges after it was installed in early January 2007 against a backdrop of political turmoil.

Accused in a number of corruption cases, Zia was released on bail on September 11 after nearly a year of detention while Hasina was paroled for medical treatment abroad on June 11.

Politics in Bangladesh are pathologically divided between the two parties, which have been led by the two former prime ministers for nearly two and a half decades. The two women had taken turns ruling the country for 15 years.

The proposal for providing them with the highest security would be moved to the cabinet soon, Hossain Zillur said, recalling their contribution in Bangladesh politics.

Asked whether the former premiers would be allowed to run in the election, which is to return Bangladesh to democracy, the adviser said their leadership was unquestionable to their respective parties.

The question was posed after media reports said the government had tried to keep the two leaders from Bangladesh's political scene because it said the people wanted an end to dynastic politics but the Awami League and Bangladesh Nationalist Party managed to foil the plan.

At pre-election talks that the government began in late May and is now finishing up, the Awami League and the government have apparently come close to an understanding on holding the election on an earlier announced date of December 18.

"We are now one step forward to join the election," the Awami League's acting general secretary, Syed Ashraful Islam, said after a crucial three-hour meeting Thursday. "Most of our demands are addressed, and we hope to be able to resolve them through discussion."

A government panel of advisers, also headed by Fakhruddin Ahmed, was scheduled to hold talks with the Bangladesh Nationalist Party, the immediate past ruling party, in the evening. (dpa)