A Bangladesh court ordered the arrests of six former Cabinet ministers, including the head of Bangladesh's largest Islamic party, on graft charges Thursday. United News of Bangladesh reported that the court has declared them fugitives and asked police to produce them within a week. Court officials were not immediately available for comment. There was no immediate reaction from the politicians' parties or families. Matiur Rahman Nizami, industry minister in detained former Prime Minister Khaleda Zia's Cabinet in 2001-06, and five others were charged with abuse of power in awarding two contracts to a local company in 2003 without going through the standard bidding process. Among the five is former finance minister Saifur Rahman. Nizami is head of the Jamaat-e-Islami party, which was an influential partner in Zia's four-party coalition government. The arrest order came days after the powerful Anti-Corruption Commission filed formal charges against more than a dozen people, including Zia, six of her Cabinet colleagues and her younger son. She has repeatedly insisted she is innocent, saying the charges are a conspiracy to destroy the image of her family and party. Zia and her son were arrested Sept. 3. She has been held in a makeshift jail inside the parliament complex pending trial. Zia's main rival – another former prime minister, Sheikh Hasina – has been detained since July on extortion charges. Bangladesh, which became a parliamentary democracy in 1991, has been ruled by an interim military-backed government since January.
