A senior British official is calling on Bangladesh's army-backed interim government to lift a state of emergency ahead of December elections. Mark Malloch-Brown, Britain's Minister of State for Asia, Africa and the United Nations says the December vote should be held in conditions which allow a free and fair vote. Malloch-Brown, who is visiting Dhaka, says voting should take place under regular constitutional arrangements and not under emergency laws.
His call came as the European Union's representative in Dhaka said the E.U. will not send election monitors to Bangladesh unless the state of emergency is lifted or relaxed. Bangladesh has been under a state of emergency since January 2007 when the army intervened to stop political violence between supporters of Bangladesh's two main political parties, the Awami League and the Bangladesh National Party.
Amir Khasru has more on the story.