The protest would be the first by a major party since the government took power in January 2007 after months of turmoil sparked by charges of vote rigging against the outgoing Bangladesh Nationalist Party (BNP) government.

Sheikh Hasina Wajed, the 60-year-old Awami League leader who served as prime minister from 1996 until 2001, has been detained since the middle of last year for allegedly extorting 435,000 dollars from a power company owner.

'Our party has now decided to start a political programme to secure her release. We will start by holding nationwide mass fasting in the middle of next month,' the party's acting general secretary Syed Ashraful Islam said.

'We want the government to quash all the false cases against Sheikh Hasina. We also want an immediate withdrawal of the emergency and a specific date for elections.'

Her supporters had previously demanded her release, but have refrained from mass protests because of a government ban on outdoor gatherings as it attempts to crack down on corruption ahead of polls planned for the end of 2008.

The BNP leader and most recent prime minister, Khaleda Zia, and around 150 other high-profile politicians have also been held in the government's corruption crackdown.

Sheikh Hasina, whose corruption case is now before the courts, was hospitalised early this month after complaining of ear trouble, high blood pressure and other ailments. -- AFP