Dhaka - Political parties in Bangladesh welcomed Sunday the announcement of national and local elections by the chief of the military-backed interim government in an overnight televised address.

Caretaker government head Dr Fakhruddin Ahmed said a general election would be held on December 18 to elect a new parliament, and local elections in more than 400 sub-districts would be held in two phases December 24-28.

Rajshahi, Bangladesh - Police in the northern Bangladeshi city of Rajshahi arrested 11 members of the radical Islamist organization Hijbut Tahrir as they were preparing to address a news conference, local officials said Friday.

"The suspected Islamic militants have been detained as they arrived at the local press club to announce the group's future political programmes to the newsmen," said city assistant police commissioner Ekramul Hossain.

Dhaka- Bangladesh's two main opposition leaders have blamed the military-backed interim government of trying to delay crucial national elections and called for mass protests at the weekend, officials said Thursday.

"The government is indulging in a deep-rooted conspiracy to put off the upcoming parliamentary polls and instead hold snap local elections, keeping prominent political leaders in prison," said Zillur Rahman of the opposition Awami League, which is led by former prime minister Sheikh Hasina.

Sydney, Sept. 17 : A taxi driver of Bangladeshi origin has been found guilty of raping an 18-year-old woman in his taxi while she was on her way home after a night out with friends.

A Sydney Morning Herald report today said that 23-year-old Mohammad Kowsar Ali was declared guilty by a jury of nine men and three women after deliberations lasting two hours and ten minutes.

According to the report, the girl, who was a virgin, was only identified as Jay and had recently moved to Sydney.

At the time of the attack, "Jay" believed she was gay. She had spent a night out at the Flinders Hotel in Darlinghurst with girlfriends and had travelled home alone to Oyster Bay at 12.30 a. m. on Sunday, November 4, last year.

Dhaka - More than 100 fishermen were feared drowned in the rough waters of the Bay of Bengal with rising tides setting off flash floods that hit the coastal belt of southern Bangladesh, rescuers and local officials said Wednesday.

The high tides caused by a depression in the bay inundated the low-lying areas of seven coastal districts, leaving hundreds of people stranded at flooded fishing villages and rice farms.

Dhaka - Former Bangladeshi Prime Minister Khaleda Zia was appointed chairwoman for life of the Bangladesh Nationalist Party (BNP) in a bid to protect her against moves by reformists to elect a new party leadership, officials said Sunday.

Tanvir Rahman Siddiqui, a member of BNP's policy-making standing committee, told a news briefing that Zia would remain party chief as long as she wished or her health permitted.