Bangladesh opposition says leader under 'virtual house arrest'

Bangladesh opposition leader Khaleda Zia speaks during a press conference in Dhaka on Tuesday, Dec 24, 2013. Bangladesh's main opposition party said on Thursday, Dec 26, 2013, Zia was being kept under virtual house arrest after she called for a
Bangladesh opposition leader Khaleda Zia speaks during a press conference in Dhaka on Tuesday, Dec 24, 2013. Bangladesh's main opposition party said on Thursday, Dec 26, 2013, Zia was being kept under virtual house arrest after she called for a mass march aimed at scuppering a January 5 election. -- PHOTO: AFP

DHAKA (AFP) - Bangladesh's main opposition party said on Thursday its leader Khaleda Zia was being kept under virtual house arrest after she called for a mass march aimed at scuppering a January 5 election.

"Since yesterday she has been under virtual house arrest," Bangladesh Nationalist Party (BNP) vice-president Shamsher Mobin Chowdhury told AFP.

"The police are not allowing anyone, including party leaders and activists, to meet her."

Police said they had only "enhanced" security for Zia outside the former prime minister's home in the upmarket Gulshan neighbourhood.

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