Dhaka - Bangladesh leaders on Thursday discussed two politically sensitive deals it will be negotiating with the United States and India on trade and investment, triggering strong reactions from domestic political and civic groups.

"The possible deals with United States and India will be tabled for discussion in parliament before their finalisation and the opposition parties should join the debates to reap maximum benefit for the country," Faruk Khan, the Bangladesh commerce minister, said Thursday in Dhaka.

Dhaka- Bangladesh's cabinet on Thursday approved a deal to allow the transit of goods through its territory by India, using water, road and rail routes, an official said.

"The government has decided to renew the previously signed deal styled Bangladesh-India Trade Agreement," Abul Kalam Azad, the press secretary to Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina Wazed, told reporters after a special meeting of the cabinet that approved the draft agreement.

Dhaka - Denmark assured Bangladesh Wednesday that it will help the impoverished Asian nation in its efforts to fight the challenges of global climate change.

Danish Minister for Climate and Energy Connie Hedegaard pledged his country's support during a meeting with Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina Wazed, after a trip to vulnerable coastal communities.

Hasina informed the Danish minister about her government's development programmes, which include dredging rivers battle floods and increase agricultural productivity.

Dhaka - Priyanka Gandhi, daughter of Indian National Congress president Sonia Gandhi, arrived in Dhaka Tuesday on a two-day personal visit to observe Bangladesh's rural development, officials said.

Senior officials from the Indian High Commission in Dhaka received Priyanka at Zia International Airport.

During her stay in Dhaka she will visit micro-credit and non-formal education programmes run by the Bangladesh Rural Advancement Committee (BRAC), one of the largest non-governmental organisations in the world.

Dhaka - A Dhaka court Monday acquitted Bangladesh's former military dictator Hussein Muhammad Ershad of graft charges brought more than 16 years ago involving a shady deal in setting up digital telephone networks in rural areas.

Divisional Court Special Judge Md Golam Mortuza announced the verdict clearing the former president and three of his co-accused of corruption charges, court officials said.

"Finally, I got justice after so many years," an apparently happy Ersahd, who had earlier served a prison term in other corruption cases, told newsmen after the verdict was pronounced.

Dhaka  - The Danish minister for Climate and Energy will take a tour to Bangladesh costal districts Tuesday to see climate vulnerability of the South Asian country, officials said Sunday.

The Danish minister, Connie Hedegaard, is scheduled to be in Dhaka on a two-day official visit beginning on Monday.

She will discuss with her Bangladesh counterpart Mustafizur Rahman about Dhaka's preparedness for the United Nations Conference on Climate Change in Copenhagen, where world leaders will meet to agree on a new treaty to replace the Kyoto Protocol in December.