Dhaka - A court Sunday ordered Bangladesh's military-backed interim government to refrain from arresting or harassing ex-premier Sheikh Hasina Wazed, now paroled for medical treatment abroad.

The High Court passed the order after hearing Hasina's petitions for bail in two graft cases, counsel of the former prime minister said. The measure applies until October 20.

Hasina, chief of Bangladesh's major opposition Awami League party, was allowed to go to the United States for medical treatment after she was paroled from prison on June 11. The parole deadline expires Monday unless the government extends it.

Dhaka- Bangladesh's leaders appealed Thursday for a friendly and peaceful society as their country, which has suffered political violence, marked the Eid al-Fitr holiday and prepared for national elections in December.

"I hope the great lesson of Eid al-Fitr will prompt our national development and advancement," President Iajuddin Ahmed said in a message for the Muslim festival, which marks the end of the fasting month of Ramadan.

He and the head of Bangladesh's military-backed government, Fakhruddin Ahmed, attended the country's main gathering for the holiday at the National Eidgah prayer grounds in the capital, Dhaka.

Dhaka- In her adolescent days Mariam had a dream of life in a mud-walled hut with a caring husband and a family of her own in a quiet village surrounded by green rice terraces in the heartland of Bangladesh.

But Mariam's dream was shattered when her husband threw acid at her as "punishment" because her parents were unable to pay her marriage dowry.

The acid attack, which happened six months ago, left her face and body disfigured.

Dhaka- A head-on collision between two river fe

Dhaka - Tens of thousands of people heading to their hometowns for the holidays at the end of Ramadan were stranded at ferry stations as tropical squalls battered the fragile Bangladeshi coastline at the weekend, officials said Monday.

Gale winds forced the suspension of ferry services along the southern coast while half a dozen fishing boats that ignored storm warnings capsized in the high waves.

About 50,000 holiday makers were trapped at ferry stations across the country as the river boat service was suspended.

Dhaka - Hundreds of thousands of Islamist devotees Friday converged on Bangladesh's biggest mosque Baitul Mukarrum to join in Ramadan-end mass prayers in the capital Dhaka amid a high security alert, officials and witnesses said.

The state-run Islamic Foundation which organized the prayers marking the last Friday of the Muslim month of fasting said over a quarter of a million people attended the Jumatul Wida congregation addressed by Muslim clerics.

Witnesses said Muslim worshippers blocked streets to the crowded national mosque located in central Dhaka to make additional space for people who did not find room inside the mosque.