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Security forces detain Bangladesh media tycoon-TV

04 Feb 2007 19:17:34 GMT
Source: Reuters

DHAKA, Feb 4 (Reuters) - Security forces in Bangladesh detained media tycoon Musaddek Ali on Sunday, private television channels ATN and Bangla Vision said, adding to a growing list of influential figures held by the authorities.

They said he was picked up late in the evening.

Musaddek, a former lawmaker from the Bangladesh Nationalist Party (BNP) of ex-Prime Minister Begum Khaleda Zia, owns two private television channels, the N-tv and R-tv, and a popular Bangla language daily, Amar Desh.

In a pre-dawn swoop on Sunday, security forces also arrested seven former ministers and several other politicians in an apparent crackdown on corruption.

They belonged to the BNP and its main rival Awami League headed by Sheikh Hasina, also a former prime minister.

An interim government now running Bangladesh and charged with holding a free and fair election, has vowed to cleanse politics and administration from corruption and indiscipline.

Law and information adviser to the interim authority, Mainul Husein, said the crackdown would continue.

Musaddek also owns a number of businesses in banking and other sectors.

NTV said he was picked up while going from his newspaper office to a BNP office in the capital, Dhaka.

His office or family could not immediately be reached for comment.

(Additional reporting by Nizam Ahmed and Azad Majumder)

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Last updated:Sun Feb 4 19:18:59 2007