Bangladesh PM sees former guerrilla chief

The Prime Minister of Bangladesh, Begum Khaleda Zia, has for the first time held talks with the leader of the Chakma community, Shantu Larma.

Mr Larma, a former rebel fighter for the rights of the tribal communities in the south-eastern Chittagong Hill Tracts, said he had expressed his concerns about the implementation of the peace accord reached with the previous Bangladesh government five years ago.

He told Mrs Zia a commission was urgently needed to assess the level of Bengali settlement in the Hill Tracts.

The BBC correspondent in Dhaka says the meeting -- described as cordial by both sides -- is significant because Mrs Zia threatened to rescind the treaty before her party's election victory last year.

The peace accord ended a 25-year long guerrilla war in which thousands of people were killed.

From the newsroom of the BBC World Service