Hasina says she is ready to face charges

In a telephone interview from London, the former prime minister told The Washington Times that she was prepared to fight the charges when she gets home.

Hasina said there have been 19 attempts on her life. "I survived all of them because Allah saved me. Why should I be worried now?" she said, when asked if she was concerned about her safety on her return to Bangladesh. "Allah has given me a life to do some work for the people of Bangladesh. I will work for my people. I am ready to die for them."

The AL chief said the government had shown "double standards" by charging her and then preventing her return to the country.

"They thought I would be afraid to face these charges," she said. "Who are they to decide whether we stay in the country or go abroad? That is for our people to decide."

Proclaiming her innocence, Hasina said, "I know I haven't done anything wrong. I have not killed anyone." She accused the Jamaat-e-Islami of wrongly implicating her in the case.

Hasina also criticised the caretaker government for failing to hold elections originally scheduled for January.

"There was a mass movement when the caretaker government took over. Their first job was to hold elections. They haven't done that yet," said Hasina.

The report added: US State Department spokesman Sean McCormack said the Bush administration was watching the situation "closely" and has urged the caretaker government "to move as expeditiously as possible to elections so the Bangladeshis can exercise their right to vote."

He warned that if "the caretaker government doesn't take the right decisions, then ... there is a real possibility that this can threaten Bangladeshi democracy and nobody wants to see that."