Dhaka  - The chief of Bangladesh's anti-graft authority resigned Thursday, saying that new leadership is needed to fight graft in the country's changed political landscape.

"You all know the present situation. There is no need to explain it again. I don't want to go into details. I would only say the circumstances demand a new leadership for the commission to gear up its activities," said Mashhud Chowdhury, confirming his resignation.

Mashhud was appointed to the position during the two years a military-backed administration ran Bangladesh. That administration took over after a military coup prompted by an election campaign in which both the country's leading parties accused the other of illegal manoeuvres.

He launched a massive anti-corruption drive that eventually led to the detention of 200 politicians from both the two ruling parties, the Awami League and the Bangladeshi Nationalist Party, including Prime Minister Hasina and former prime minister Khaleda Zia.

But Hasina took power this year after the military-backed regime gave up power.

International graft watchdog Transparency International had ranked Bangladesh as the most corrupt country in the world for at least five straight years until 2005.

Mashhud tendered his resignation to President Zillur Rahman. He met the press briefly after submitting his resignation and thanked all concerned for cooperating with him during his tenure.

Nonetheless, some welcomed his departure, saying his anti- corruption efforts under the old regime had actually been a method for harassing politicians.

"I am personally happy to know that Hasan Mashhud has resigned. He was just used for harassing the politicians during the previous interim government's tenure," Quamrul Islam, the state minister for law, justice and parliamentary affairs, said. (dpa)