AFP

Dhaka, Jun 11: Former Bangladeshi prime minister Sheikh Hasina Wajed was released from detention on corruption charges Wednesday as part of an apparent political deal between her party and the army-backed government.

The leader of the Awami League party, who has been held on graft charges for almost a year, is to leave the country early Thursday for the United States, where she will be treated for hearing problems, officials said.

"She has just been released from a special prison and she is heading to her home," additional deputy police commissioner Ruhul Amin said.

Sheikh Hasina left her jail in a heavily-guarded SUV, and was greeted by thousands of supporters gathered outside.

Many tossed flowers onto the vehicle, forcing the motorcade to slow to a crawl as it made its way through the crowds.

In a surprise move Monday, Bangladesh's emergency army-backed government gave permission for Sheikh Hasina, who led the country from 1996 to 2001, to be released.

But it is leaving the graft charges in place, and Sheikh Hasina is to be tried in absentia.

The government is trying to end a stalemate with the two main political parties, the Awami League and the Bangladesh Nationalist Party (BNP).

Both parties have refused to hold talks to plan for an election at the end of the year because both of their leaders, Sheikh Hasina and the BNP leader Khaleda Zia, were detained.

Sheikh Hasina's secretary Hasan Mahmud told reporters she would leave for the United States, via London, on Thursday morning.

And Awami League general secretary Syed Ashraful Islam hinted the party could then go into talks with the government and participate in polls.

"I hope the political uncertainty will be over now," he said. "I hope the Awami League will go to the polls in December."

Newspaper reports say the government is also preparing to release Zia, but the two-time former prime minister is refusing to leave Bangladesh, saying she prefers to be treated for her acute arthritis and knee problems at home.

Dhaka University political science professor Ataur Rahman said Sheikh Hasina's release and exit from Bangladesh was part of the deal for her to be exiled gracefully.

"She has opted for this voluntary exile. She's unlikely to return home any time soon because all the graft charges against her remain very much effective and, if (she is) convicted, could lead to years of imprisonment," Rahman said.

He predicted that the government would also free and send Zia abroad, along with her two sons who also face graft charges, which would pave a clear path to hold credible elections in December.

"Hasina's Awami League and Zia's BNP are the two main political parties in Bangladesh. Without their participation, there will be no talks and therefore no credible election.

"They have been dominating our political landscape for decades and are still popular despite allegations of widespread graft against their leaders," he said.

The interim government had tried to force the two women into exile last year as part of an effort to clean up the country's notoriously dysfunctional political system, but they refused to leave and were put on trial instead.

The BNP and the Awami League leaders have been blamed for the political paralysis and unrest that led to the imposition of a state of emergency and formation of an army-backed authority in January 2007.