The World : Bangladesh Leader Agrees to Hold Vote

As protests against his rule continued, Bangladesh President Hussain Mohammed Ershad announced that he will try to call elections within 90 days to select a president and a new Parliament to replace the body he dissolved Sunday. Ershad also told newspaper editors that he will soon release two opposition leaders, Khaleda Zia, chairman of the Bangladesh Nationalist Party, and Hasina Wazed, president of the Awami League, who have been under house arrest since Nov. 11. Meanwhile, an opposition strike aimed at toppling the government closed shops and brought traffic to a near standstill in Dhaka.