Dhaka - Authorities in Bangladesh on Monday announced further relaxation of a state of emergency to allow electioneering for parliamentary and local polls.

The government also decided to withdraw troops from the field, nearly 22 months after they were deployed as part of a declaration of a state of emergency, an adviser to the military-backed interim administration told reporters.

Dhaka - A high-level Bangladesh delegation is scheduled to fly to Myanmar Wednesday to hold talks aimed at resolving a dispute over oil and gas exploration in the Bay of Bengal, a top foreign ministry official said Monday.

Bangladesh's foreign secretary Md. Touhid Hossain will lead the delegation at the dialogue with his Myanmar counterpart and other high ranking officials to "defuse the situation" over the exploration, the official said.

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 

Dhaka - Dhaka on Saturday made a formal request to the United Nations for assistance to rescue two Bangladeshi development workers abducted in war-torn Afghanistan last month.

"We have sought assistance from the United Nations to rescue abducted Bangladeshi workers," the foreign affairs adviser, Fakhruddin Ahmed, told reporters after the talks with visiting UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon.

Dhaka - The United Nations wants Bangladesh hold a credible parliamentary election next month for a peaceful transition to democracy, the UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon said Saturday.

"I have expressed my sincere wish that this parliamentary election will be held in a more fair and objective and credible way that Bangladesh can have very smooth and peaceful transition to democracy," the UN chief told reporters after a meeting with Bangladesh foreign affairs adviser Iftekhar Ahmed Chowdhury.

He hoped that Dhaka's leadership in the government and political parties will cooperate in the matter.