Bangladesh's Yunus to meet key parties as pressure grows

Dhaka: Bangladesh s interim leader, who took over after a mass uprising last year, will meet powerful parties pressuring his government later on Satur...

Dhaka: Bangladesh's interim leader, who took over after a mass uprising last year, will meet powerful parties pressuring his government later on Saturday, days after he reportedly threatened to quit.

Muhammad Yunus, the 84-year-old Nobel Peace Prize winner who leads the caretaker government as its chief adviser until elections are held, has called for rival political parties jostling for power to give him their full support.

His press secretary Shafiqul Alam confirmed Yunus would meet leaders of the powerful Bangladesh Nationalist Party (BNP), as well as leaders of Jamaat-e-Islami, the Muslim-majority nation's largest Islamist party.

"He is meeting BNP and Jamaat leaders this evening," Alam told AFP.

No agenda for the talks has been released.