Installation of a transitional government in Bangladesh has been postponed as clashes between rival political activists have left at least six people dead and 100 others injured.
Former Supreme Court chief justice K. M. Hasan was to have been sworn in as caretaker leader Saturday, to prepare for January elections. However, a presidential spokesman said he was too ill to appear. No new date was set for the ceremony.
The main opposition Awami League had threatened to paralyze the country Saturday with a transport strike if Prime Minister Khaleda Zia appointed the retired chief justice to the post. The opposition says Hasan is biased in favor of the government.
Five people were killed in violence Friday evening after Mrs. Zia gave her televised farewell address to the nation, calling for peace. Another person was killed Saturday and hundreds were injured, as opposition activists battled riot police in the streets of Dhaka.
Meanwhile, opposition protesters blocked a key highway connecting the capital, Dhaka, with the southeastern port city of Chittagong, while sporadic violence continued.
The outgoing prime minister's final days in power were marked by political turmoil. At least 24 politicians, including several lawmakers and ministers, defected from the ruling Bangladesh Nationalist Party Thursday to start a new party.
Former president Badruddoza Chowdhury and Oli Ahmed, a former minister with the ruling party, head the newly formed Liberal Democratic Party, which accuses the government of widespread corruption.
Some information for this report was provided by AFP, AP and Reuters.
