Security tight as Dhaka braces for massive protest

DHAKA, Sunday (AFP) - Police and troops in Bangladesh's capital went on high alert Sunday with hundreds of thousands of opposition activists expected to converge on the city in a campaign to oust the government.

National police chief Abdul Kaiyum said authorities had taken the "highest security steps to prevent any act of violence" as demonstrators from across the country approached Dhaka on what the opposition billed the "Long March."

Some 1,260 opposition supporters had been arrested in connection with the protest, police said Saturday, as the government vowed it would "lawfully resist any attempt" to disrupt law and order.

But Sheikh Hasina Wajed, who leads the main opposition Awami League, said at least 8,000 activists and leaders had been rounded up since the "Long March" began Thursday.

Around 8,000 police officers along with troops of the elite Rapid Action Battalion and paramilitary forces were deployed in Dhaka, police said. The marchers were due to rally in the city centre.

"We expect more than a million people will join the 'Long March' to the capital to show their non-confidence in the government," opposition spokesman Abdul Jalil said.

The protest is the latest in an unrelenting campaign by the Awami League-led coalition to force the Islamist-allied government to call snap national elections.

"The government is afraid of a people's uprising," said Hasina. "That's why they're obstructing our peaceful rallies and arresting our leaders, activists and general people."

National police chief Kaiyum said 4,500 people had been arrested in the last three days, but many for reasons not linked to the protest.