By Nizam Ahmed
DHAKA (Reuters) - Bangladesh's former prime minister Begum Khaleda Zia has pulled back from a reported deal with the army-backed interim government to go into exile, intelligence officials said on Monday.
"She has conveyed her final decision (to the government) not to go abroad in a while," said one official, who asked not to be identified.
In another setback for the administration, a court suspended an arrest warrant against former prime minister Sheikh Hasina on Monday, a day after it had issued the order citing a murder charge.
The suspension came after a police officer investigating the case told the court the charges were flawed and he needed more time to reinvestigate.
Hasina has been refused permission to return home from holiday abroad on grounds that it could trigger unrest in the country, while Khaleda has reportedly been kept under house arrest pending forced exile.
Khaleda's close associates said the 60-year-old former premier was ill with low blood pressure and knee pains, and "she will not go out".
Last week, sources within the government and Khaleda's Bangladesh Nationalist Party (BNP) had reported an agreement between her and the authorities.
Under it, Khaleda was to go into exile to Saudi Arabia, along with her younger son Arafat Rahman and most family members, in return for leniency for her jailed elder son and political heir apparent, Tareque Rahman.
The deal stood firm until Friday, but faltered at the weekend when Khaleda associates said she had changed her mind.
"She is now unwilling to go, and pressure on her to leave the country also eased over the last couple of days," an intelligence official told Reuters, without elaborating.
"Yes, the scenario has changed and she will not go," said a close associate of Khaleda on Monday.
Security forces arrested Tareque last month. He has since been in jail awaiting trial for alleged extortion and abuse of power.
Security forces have also arrested more than 160 other key political figures since the interim government imposed a state of emergency on January 11, as part of a crackdown on corruption.
BACKFIRE
Hasina, chief of the Awami League, was barred from boarding a flight to Dhaka from London on Sunday.
While ordinary Bangladeshis have given enthusiastic support to the army-backed interim administration, moves to force the country's two most powerful political party leaders into exile could backfire, observers say.
"Trying to shut them out of politics ... gives a clear signal that the current administration has something in mind beyond just fighting corruption," said a senior official who asked not to be identified.
"They are both citizens of the country and have every right to live like a free person until any charges of wrongdoing have been proved," said Abdus Salam, a businessman in Dhaka.
(Additional reporting by Anis Ahmed)
