Muhammad Yunus will head interim government of Bangladesh, says official

DHAKA, Bangladesh — Bangladesh's Nobel laureate Muhammad Yunus will head the country's interim government after former Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina stepped down and fled the country amid a mass uprising against her rule led mostly by students. 

The announcement early on Wednesday came from Joynal Abedin, the press secretary of President Mohammed Shahabuddin. Abedin spoke to The Associated Press over the phone. 

Abedin also said that the other members of the Yunus-led government would be decided soon after discussion with political parties and other stakeholders. 

The leaders of the student protests, the chiefs of the country's three divisions of the military, civil society members, as well as some business leaders held a meeting with the president for more than five hours late on Tuesday to decide on the head of the interim administration. 

The students had earlier proposed Yunus and said he agreed. He is expected to return to the country from Paris soon, local media reported. 

Following the decision, student leaders left the president's official house shortly after midnight Tuesday obviously satisfied and welcoming the decision. 

Earlier, Bangladesh's president dissolved Parliament, clearing the way for new elections to replace the longtime prime minister who resigned and fled the country following weeks of demonstrations against her rule that descended into violence. 

President Mohammed Shahabuddin also ordered the release of opposition leader Khaleda Zia from house arrest. Zia, a longtime rival of ousted Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina, was convicted on corruption charges by Hasina's government in 2018. 

On Tuesday, some senior positions in the military were reshuffled. The student protesters said they would not allow any military-backed government. 

The streets of Dhaka, the capital, appeared calmer Tuesday, with no reports of new violence as jubilant protesters thronged the ousted leader's residence. Some posed for selfies with soldiers guarding the building, where a day earlier angry protesters had looted furniture, paintings, flowerpots and chickens. 

Dhaka's main airport resumed operations after an eight-hour suspension. 

The Bangladesh Police Association said it was launching a strike across the country because of a lack of security after numerous police stations were attacked on Monday and "many" officers were killed, though it didn't give any number of the dead. 

It said officers would not return to work unless their safety is assured. The association also apologized for violent police attacks on student protesters, saying officers had been "forced to open fire" and had been cast as the "villain." 

Hasina fled to India by helicopter on Monday as protesters defied military curfew orders to march on the capital, with thousands of demonstrators eventually storming her official residence and other buildings associated with her party and family. 

Protests against a quota system for government jobs, which critics said favored people with connections to her party, grew into a broader challenge to her 15-year rule, which was marked by human rights abuses, corruption and allegations of rigged elections amid a brutal crackdown on her opponents. 

A bloody crackdown on the demonstrations led to clashes that left scores dead, further fueling the movement.