Dhaka - Bangladesh has resolved to protect its sovereign territorial waters in the Bay of Bengal where it claims Myanmar authorities allegedly intruded for oil and gas exploration, officials said Thursday.

A high-level meeting of government and military officials in Dhaka reviewed the situation in the Bay of Bengal over Myanmar's presence in the disputed waters.

Dhaka, - Bangladesh's former prime minister Sheikh Hasina Wajed returned home Thursday, saying she wants to rescue her people from hardship and contest the December parliamentary elections.

Tens of thousands of jubilant supporters gave a grand reception to Hasina, the head of Bangladesh's Awami League party, on her return after five months of medical treatment abroad.

The former premier said on her arrival from Britain that her people were in hardship, and "only an elected government can rescue the nation from the crisis"

Dhaka- Dhaka on Wednesday explained to Beijing the reasons for the current tension in the Bay of Bengal over Myanmar's gas exploration in disputed maritime territory between the two neighbouring countries.

"I have explained our peaceful intentions to our Chinese friend, and expressed our hope that Myanmar dismantles the installations on the disputed waters," Bangladesh's Foreign Affairs Adviser Iftekhar Ahmed Chowdhury said.

Dhaka - Bangladesh's major political parties have received certificates from the Election Commission to contest the upcoming general elections scheduled for December 18, election officials and political leaders said Wednesday.

Dhaka - United Nations Secretary-General, Ban Ki-moon, said Sunday Bangladesh's military leadership had assured him it would not interfere in politics and the December election will be free and fair.

"I was assured by the military leadership that they will ensure this forthcoming election will be fair, credible and free. They will not interfere in any political process," Ban told reporters in Dhaka.

Dhaka - Two Bangladeshi development workers abducted in Afghanistan were released in the east-central province of Ghazni, officials said Sunday.

"The unidentified abductors left them in front of our Gazni office Saturday evening, 10 days after they were picked up," said Zia Hashan, communications manager of the Bangladesh Rural Advancement Committee, a Dhaka-based non-governmental organization.

Akhter Ali and Mohammad Shahjahan Ali, who have been working for the committee in Afghanistan for three years, were kidnapped by unidentified gunmen on October