Bangladesh Crippled by Traffic Blockade

A Bangladeshi rickshaw puller rides past a car that was set afire by protestors in Dhaka, Bangladesh, Sunday, Dec. 3, 2006. Separate clashes between rival political activists and police left at least 65 people injured, as a major political alliance in Bangladesh staged a nationwide transport blockade on Sunday to force electoral reforms, witnesses and news reports said. (AP Photo/Pavel Rahman) (Pavel Rahman - AP)

DHAKA, Bangladesh -- Separate clashes between rival political activists and police left one man dead and at least 65 people injured, as a major political alliance in Bangladesh staged a nationwide transport blockade on Sunday to force electoral reforms, police and news reports said.

The clashes between supporters of former Prime Minister Khaleda Zia and Sheikh Hasina, the chief of a 14-party political alliance, occurred in the northeastern district of Sylhet, a police official said by telephone from the district.

One unidentified man was killed and about 50 other people were injured in the clashes in Sylhet, 120 miles northeast of capital Dhaka, said the official on condition of anonymity as he was not authorized to speak to the media.

Separately, at least 15 people suffered injuries after police clashed with Hasina's supporters in Shariatpur district, 35 miles west of Dhaka, the United News of Bangladesh agency reported.

Police used batons to disperse the activists during the clash in Shariatpur, and the protesters later damaged a local election office, the agency reported.

Meanwhile, more than 20,000 protesters poured into Bangladesh's capital Sunday and were met by roughly equally large numbers of security officials, witnesses and a news report said.

No violence was reported in Dhaka, but transportation and businesses ground to a halt after protesters erected barricades on major highways, cutting off the capital from the rest of the country, the ATN Bangla TV station reported.

Some protesters smashed a number of vehicles which tried to defy the blockade, ATN Bangla said.

The areas around the presidential palace in downtown Dhaka were the main protest venue, as President Iajuddin Ahmed met with members of an interim government to try to end the political impasse, the report said.

The open-ended, nationwide protest came after last-minute efforts by Ahmed to resolve a political deadlock threatening January elections failed late Saturday.

Only a few three-wheel rickshaws were plying Dhaka's streets on Sunday, a working day in Muslim-majority Bangladesh, a nation of 144 million people.

Late Saturday, Ahmed met separately with Zia and Hasina to try to avert the strike.