Ex-President Iajuddin Ahmed dies

He was being treated at a hospital in Bangkok for heart and kidney related complications.

Former President and Dhaka University teacher Iajuddin Ahmed died at Bumrungrad International Hospital in Bangkok on Monday after suffering from heart and kidney diseases for long.

He was 81.

His son Imtiaz Ahmed Babu told bdnews24.com by phone that Iajuddin died around 10.40am.


Babu said after his father had undergone a heart surgery last month his condition deteriorated following complications in kidney.

"He had been put under life support since then," he added.

Iajuddin's wife Prof Anwara Begum is also in Bangkok.

Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina's Press Secretary Abul Kalam Azad said she condoled his death and conveyed her sympathy to the bereaved family.

He was hospitalised in August last year following complaints of chest pains and was taken to Thailand for better treatment.

He then returned home but was flown again to Thailand as he fell sick.

In May 2006, Iajuddin had undergone a successful heart by-pass surgery at the Mount Elizabeth Hospital in Singapore.

A soil scientist and educationist, Iajuddin took over as President in September 2002 and served until February 2009.

He took the charge of Chief Advisor to the caretaker government after the BNP's last tenure ended in 2006, a move which, political analysts say, created violent political conflict. But his caretaker administration failed to resolve the political crisis and hold elections.

Iajuddin then declared state of emergency in 2007, for which he was harshly criticised. The country was forced to go through a two-year emergency rule during that time.

A former Chairman of the University Grants Commission (UGC), Iajuddin had also received the prestigious Ekushey Padak in 1995.