Dhaka - Bangladeshi former prime minister Khaleda Zia and her two sons on Thursday sought the withdrawal of graft charges brought against them.

"We have filed applications seeking withdrawal of the 21 cases," Sanaullah Mia, one of Zia's attorneys, told reporters after filing the appeal. "... These cases have no merit."

Dhaka - Bangladesh's Awami League-led government Wednesday cancelled the lease of a residence in Dhaka awarded to former premier Khaleda Zia 27 years ago as widow of slain president Ziaur Rahman, officials said.

A weekly meeting of Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina Wazed's cabinet decided to cancel the lease of one of the two homes awarded to Zia following the assassination of her husband Rahman, an army chief-turned-president of the country.

President Rahman was assassinated in a military coup on May 30, 1981.

Dhaka  - Bangladesh's opposition leader Khaleda Zia Thursday promised to play a constructive role in parliament, which is scheduled to convene later this month.

"We want to help the government. But the government must reciprocate," Zia, who was formally endorsed leader of the opposition in parliament by deputies from her Bangladesh Nationalist Party (BNP) at a meeting immediately after they were sworn in as lawmakers Thursday.

The BNP was defeated in general elections late last month, securing only 30 out of 300 parliamentary seats.

Dhaka  - Facing an embarrassing defeat in the late December elections, the Bangladesh Nationalist Party (BNP) of former premier Khaleda Zia decided Friday to revitalise the party and all its fronts to face the ruling Awami League in and outside parliament.

"We will dissolve all the party committees and fronts to reconstitute them through democratic process up to the grassroots level," said Zia, head of the BNP which won only
30 of 299 parliamentary seats in the December 29 polls.

Dhaka, Jan 8 : The landslide victory of Sheik Hasina's Awami League has jolted the pro-Pakistan political forces in Bangladesh who want Islamabad to send some seasoned diplomats here to look after its interests in the wake of growing Indian influence in the country.

Dhaka  - Bangladesh's former prime minister Khaleda Zia has rejected the results of the country's general election, saying the outcome was stage-managed by the Election Commission, newspapers reported Wednesday.

"The Election Commission only announced a staged result set earlier," said Zia, who heads an alliance led by her Bangladesh Nationalist Party (BNP) at a press briefing late Tuesday night

Zia lost Monday's elections by a huge margin to an alliance led by its arch-rival, the Awami League of Sheikh Hasina Wazed, also a former prime minister.