'Talks after strike'

The BNP has refused Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina's dinner invitation to Opposition Leader Khaleda Zia for Monday.

At an urgent press briefing at the Chairperson’s Gulshan office on Saturday evening, Khaleda's Press Secretary Maruf Kamal Khan said the 60-hour nationwide shutdown starting from Sunday cannot be called off.

The emergency briefing was called after archrivals Hasina and Khaleda spoke over the phone for about 37 minutes. The Prime Minister invited Khaleda to dialogue over dinner.

He said the talks with the ruling party could take place after the strike ended on Tuesday.

But the Opposition will withdraw their plans for agitation if the government was to meet its demand for non-party government to oversee the next general election, said Maruf Kamal.

Khaleda’s Press Secretary at the media call shed light on the main opposition’s position following the phone call. He said he and acting Secretary General Mirza Fakhrul Islam Alamgir were present while Khaleda spoke to the Prime Minister on the phone.

The BNP Chairperson, speaking at an 18-Party alliance rally on Friday, announced the nonstop strike from Sunday unless the government extended an offer for discussion in two days.