BNP Chairperson and former prime minister Khaleda Zia will return to Bangladesh from the United Kingdom by the end of April.
She will be accompanied by Zubaida Rahman, wife of her elder son Tarique Rahman, and Syeda Shamila Rahman, widow of her late younger son Arafat Rahman, said reliable diplomatic sources.
According to the sources, Khaleda Zia is presently undergoing a comprehensive medical evaluation while staying at her son Tarique Rahman's residence in London.
Arrangements are being made to bring her back to Dhaka via a special air ambulance from Qatar.
She is expected to return by Wednesday (30 April).
Zubaida Rahman and Syeda Shamila Rahman will accompany her on the journey home.
A diplomatic source in Dhaka revealed that last week, BNP Secretary General Mirza Fakhrul Islam Alamgir wrote to Foreign Affairs Secretary Md Touhid Hossain, requesting assistance in organising the special air ambulance from Qatar to facilitate Khaleda Zia’s return.
The letter stated that Khaleda Zia, while currently stable, remains in a vulnerable health condition.
She has expressed a desire to return to Bangladesh in the final week of April.
Her doctors have recommended air ambulance transport, given her fragile state.
In response to the letter, government authorities have begun preparations through the Bangladesh High Commissions in London and Doha to bring the former prime minister back.
Khaleda Zia had been incarcerated at the Old Dhaka Central Jail following her 2018 conviction in a corruption case.
During the COVID-19 pandemic, the previous government granted her conditional release on humanitarian grounds.
Following the fall of the Awami League government after the student and popular uprising of 5 August last year, President Mohammedd Shahabuddin ordered her full release.
Subsequently, the courts annulled the verdicts of the two corruption cases in which she had been imprisoned.
On 8 January this year, Khaleda Zia was flown to London for advanced medical treatment.
After 17 days of hospitalisation at a London clinic, she was transferred to Tarique Rahman's residence on 25 January.
This Eid, she celebrated with her family for the first time in over six years, having previously spent four consecutive Eids either in prison or at the Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujib Medical University Hospital.
Currently under treatment at her son’s home, Khaleda Zia is undergoing extensive health evaluations.
She has long battled multiple chronic conditions, including liver cirrhosis, kidney disease, heart ailments, diabetes, and arthritis.
Khaleda Zia last travelled to London on 15 July 2017. She has not travelled abroad since then.
