BNP chief Khaleda Zia flying to London for treatment

BNP Chairperson Khaleda Zia will be flying to London for a medical check up and will return home after spending Eid with her elder son Tarique Rahman.

Her spokesperson Maruf Kamal Khan told bdnews24.com she would be travelling on an Emirates Airlines flight from Shahjalal Airport around 9:35pm on Tuesday.

“Appointments for her eye treatment and checkup have already been fixed, ” he added.

She would be accompanied by her younger brother Shamim Eskander, his wife Kaniz Fatema, her personal secretary ABM Abdus Sattar and maid Fatema Akhter. 

This is Khaleda’s second visit of the UK after 2006. She dropped by at London in 2011 to visit Tarique while returning from the US.

The BNP senior vice-chairman has been residing in London since 2007 and is wanted for the attempt on Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina’s life (Aug 21 Grenade Attack).

Tarique met with Khaleda last year when she went to Saudi Arabia for Umrah. They have not met since.

Her younger son Arafat Rahman Coco who lived in Malaysia died on Jan 24.

Like every year, the BNP chief was to perform Umrah in Saudi Arabia this year.

However, she cancelled the trip at the last moment saying there was no one to run the party as most senior leaders were in prison.

In August, she was to fly to London but dropped her plans, sparking speculations in political circles.

Prior to this visit, she discussed with senior party leaders at her office in Gulshan on Sunday night and urged them to speed up formation of grassroots-level committees.

A number of BNP leaders said Coco’s wife Sharmila Rahman Sithi and her two daughters Jahiya Rahman and Jaisa Rahman are expected to fly there from Malaysia to spend the Eid.