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Bangladesh imposes curfew after unrest

Students protest military's emergency rule.

DHAKA, Bangladesh - The military-backed government imposed an indefinite curfew in six major cities Wednesday, clearing the streets and temporarily shutting down cell phones in a bid to quell three days of unrest by students demanding an end to emergency rule.

Police with loudspeakers urged residents to stay home as the curfew came into effect at 8 p.m. Security forces patrolled the deserted streets.

The curfew order came after students took their protests from university campuses to the streets of the capital, burning cars and buses and battling with security forces. Students also clashed with police in three other cities.

Cell phones stopped working about an hour before the curfew went into effect. An official at the country's largest mobile operator, GrameenPhone, said the government ordered all cell phone service temporarily shut down.

Wednesday saw the first death in three days of mayhem when students attacked a police checkpoint northwest of Dhaka, the United News of Bangladesh agency said.

There were differing accounts of how the unidentified man died - students said police fatally beat him, but police said the man was killed by a stone thrown by a protester.

Demonstrations have spread across the grindingly poor South Asian country since Monday with students demanding an end to emergency rule. The emergency was imposed in January when President Iajuddin Ahmed canceled scheduled elections, outlawed demonstrations, curtailed press freedoms and limited other civil liberties.

The protests began when University of Dhaka students called for the removal of an army post from the campus. The soldiers withdrew a day later after violent protests left 150 people injured, but the students' demands escalated and the protests continued. Hundreds have since been hurt.

On Wednesday, students said they wanted the return of democracy immediately.

How much support the students have among the general population is unclear. Bangladesh's democracy, restored in 1991, has been best known for endemic corruption and a bitter rivalry between the leaders of the two main political parties, Begum Khaleda Zia and Sheikh Hasina Wazed.

Violence between supporters of the two women is what prompted the president to call off the vote and impose emergency rule.

But in one indication of spreading support for the students, slum dwellers and street vendors joined the protests Wednesday as students battled police, who used batons and tear gas to try to disperse the crowds.

[Last modified August 23, 2007, 01:16:03]