Bangladesh tense as strike bites

Opposition supporters vent their anger at the government

Security has been stepped up in Bangladesh on the second day of a general strike called by the main opposition Awami League.

Security forces equipped with riot gear were deployed in the capital Dhaka to prevent disturbances.

The strike has closed down schools and businesses and disrupted public transport.

The two-day strike - the eighth this year - is aimed at forcing early elections.

The Awami League accuses Khaleda Zia's government of being inefficient and corrupt and wants it to quit by Friday.

Anti-government movement

The government says it intends to stay in office until 2006, when the next elections are due in the country.

In Dhaka, where security was tight, people used rickshaws - the only transport strike organisers allowed to operate - to commute.

The police put up barricades outside the Awami League party headquarters and in other parts of Dhaka to prevent party workers from taking to the streets, according to AP.

There were no reports of any violence.

"The latest two-day strike would add new milestones in the opposition's bid for a change of government through democratic means," said Awami League party general secretary Abdul Jalil, quoted by Reuters news agency.

The Awami League has asked the government to quit by Friday or face a "tumultuous people's movement".

The government arrested more than 7,000 opposition activists in the run-up to the general strike.

The High Court in Bangladesh has asked the authorities to reveal the details and identities of arrested opposition activists within three weeks.

The court also asked the government to explain why most of the arrests should not be made unconstitutional.