DHAKA, 25 June 2007 — Bangladesh’s emergency government said yesterday it will build a nuclear power plant to meet electricity shortages that have sparked riots and hit the country’s economy.

The International Atomic Energy Commission, the global nuclear watchdog, had approved a government plan to set up a nuclear power plant, interim Energy Minister Tapan Chowdhury told reporters.

“We have now got the approval from the organization and already there is an offer from (South) Korea to finance 60 percent of the project,” he said, without elaborating. Bangladesh faces massive electricity shortages that have hit its booming textile industry, with generation of 3,000 megawatts at peak times still 2,000 megawatts short of actual demand.

Evidence Against Hasina

Police have recovered bank checks through which two leading businessmen had paid bribe to Awami League (AL) chief Hasina Wajed when she was the prime minister.

The checks will be produced as evidence in two separate extortion cases filed against Hasina and three others. Hasina has been accused of extorting 80 million taka from entrepreneurs to approve certain business ventures.

Other accused in the case are AL presidium member and former Health Minister Sheikh Selim, former AL lawmaker Sheikh Helal and his wife Rupa Chowdhury. Both Selim and Helal are cousins of Hasina. On June 21, Selim admitted in a Dhaka court his involvement in the extortion case.

Talking to newsmen yesterday, Jane Alam Khan, officer in charge of Tejgaon police station said, “We have 12 checks of Standard Chartered Bank and IFIC Bank which are being examined and would be produced in the court.

Gulshan police have also collected eight checks of different banks issued to Hasina and Selim. On June 13, Noor Ali, managing director of Unique Group of Company filed a case against Hasina with Tejgaon police accusing her of receiving 50 million taka as extortion money.

Convict Appeals Death Sentence

A former military officer sentenced to death for his involvement in the 1975 assassination of Bangladesh’s first Prime Minister Mujibur Rahman has appealed his sentence.

A.K.M. Mohiuddin Ahmed, 60, who was tried and convicted in absentia, returned home last Monday after being deported from the United States. He was arrested immediately and sent to jail upon his arrival in the Bangladeshi capital, Dhaka, after nearly a decade on the run.

Yesterday, Ahmed sent an application to the Supreme Court to appeal his sentence, the United News of Bangladesh reported, citing court officials.