Critically ill former Bangladesh PM Zia to be taken to London: Reports

Dhaka: Family of former Bangladesh prime minister Khalada Zia, who remains in a critical condition here, is preparing to transfer her to London, where her son and BNP acting chairperson Tarique Rahman lives, media reports said Thursday.

Zia, the 80-year-old Bangladesh Nationalist Party (BNP) chairperson, was admitted to a private hospital on November 23 when she developed a chest infection that affected both her heart and lungs.

Four days later, the three-time prime minister was shifted to the coronary care unit (CCU) after several of her health complications worsened.

BBC Bangla Service and Ittefaq newspaper said Zia’s son and BNP's self-exiled acting chairperson Tarique Rahman’s wife Zubaida Rahman, a doctor herself, is expected to arrive in Dhaka soon to oversee the transfer of her ailing mother-in-law.

“After arriving in Bangladesh, Zubaida Rahman will take her to London (after) assessing Zia’s physical condition,” at the Dhaka hospital, the BBC Bangla reported saying, several BNP leaders confirmed the decision without mentioning their names.

Qatar, meanwhile, said it is ready to provide an air ambulance for Zia for taking her to London even as two military and air force helicopters on Thursday staged landing tests at the rooftop of Dhaka’s Evercare Hospital, where she is admitted.

“If madam's (Zia) health is suitable for travel, we plan to take her to London tomorrow morning. It all depends on her health,” Zia’s adviser Enamul Haque Chowdhury told The Daily Star newspaper.

A four-member Chinese medical team, comprising doctors Chi Jiang Fang, Yan Xin, Zhong Yuhui, and Meng Huang Wu, arrived at the Evercare Hospital late on Wednesday night and met with the medical board to review treatment options for the BNP chairperson, the state-run BSS news agency reported.

BNP Secretary General Mirza Fakhrul Islam Alamgir met the specialists upon their arrival and discussed Zia's treatment with them, according to news portal bdnews24.com.

The Chinese doctors joined a four-member UK specialist group led by Dr Richard Buell that had arrived earlier in the day to help chart an advanced treatment plan.

The team's arrival marked the second batch of Chinese doctors, who had arrived earlier this week. A five-member advance team from China had arrived in Dhaka on December 1 to provide preliminary assistance.

Interim government chief Muhammad Yunus on Wednesday visited the hospital to enquire about Zia's health, a day after the army, navy and air force chiefs visited her.

The former prime minister’s younger brother Shamim Iskandar, his wife Kaniz Fatema, and Zia’s deceased younger son’s wife Sharmila Rahman are among the relatives present at the hospital.

Earlier, in a Facebook post on Saturday, Tarique Rahman wrote: “In this time of crisis, like any child, I too long for the comforting touch of my mother.”

“But unlike others, to make a unilateral decision in this regard is not in my hands alone nor solely within my control. The sensitivity of this matter also limits the scope for detailed explanation,” he wrote.

The post sparking speculations about what debarred his return home.

Rahman has been living in London since 2008 while he was charged and convicted in several graft and criminal cases during the then military-backed caretaker government and subsequent Awami League regime of deposed prime minister Sheikh Hasina.

In 2024, Yunus' interim government withdrew all the cases and courts acquitted him under revised judgments.

After his emotional post on Facebook last week, several government advisers said there was no bar on his return and promised him required security on his arrival.

Foreign adviser Touhid Hossain said the authorities were ready to issue his travel document in a day if his passport expired but the Bangladesh embassy in the UK received no request so far for his travel document.

“Until Wednesday evening, he has not sought any travel pass,” Hossain told reporters.

Meanwhile, supporters and organisations across Bangladesh, including in Dhaka and districts such as Jhenaidah, Sunamganj, Bagerhat, Cumilla, Chuadanga and Munshiganj, held prayer gatherings seeking Zia's recovery.