B'desh's ex-PM Khaleda Zia in London for treatment, meets son after 7 years

Bangladesh's former prime minister Khaleda Zia was admitted to a specialised hospital in London on Wednesday for advanced treatment, her party said.

Earlier, the 79-year-old chairperson of the Bangladesh Nationalist Party (BNP) had an emotional reunion with her eldest son, Tarique Rahman, at the Heathrow International Airport after more than seven years of separation.

Begum Khaleda Zia was admitted to the London Clinic under Professor Patrick Kennedy at 6.30 pm (BST), BNP Media Cell member Shairul Kabir Khan quoted Khaleda Zia's personal physician Professor AZM Zahid Hossain as saying.

Zia was driven to the London Clinic directly from Heathrow Airport by her son and BNP acting chairman Rahman.

Rahman's wife Dr Zubaida Rahman accompanied them. Bangladeshi physicians, who accompanied the former premier to London, handed over treatment related documents to the doctors of the London Clinic, state-run news agency Bangladesh Sangbad Sangstha (BSS) said.

Later, the physicians of the clinic decided to get her admitted to the facility for further treatment after reviewing the documents and carrying out some required medical tests, it said.

The former premier, who is suffering from multiple diseases, reached London onboard a Qatari Royal Air Ambulance for medical treatment, her first overseas trip since July 16, 2017, when she travelled to London for treatment.

"The air ambulance carrying her landed at Heathrow International Airport in London at 2:55 pm (Bangladesh time)," Khan said.

Rahman gave a warm hug to his wheelchair bound mother just as she was brought out of the airport.

Bangladesh's acting High Commissioner in London, Mohammad Hazrat Ali Khan, welcomed the former prime minister with a bouquet at the airport, BSS news agency reported.

She was received by her son Rahman, the acting chairperson of the BNP, and his wife, Zubaida, at the airport, the Daily Star newspaper reported.

Zia, who served as the premier thrice, met her son Rahman for the first time since 2017 as the Sheikh Hasina led government did not allow her to visit abroad, citing legal complications.

Rahman, convicted in a number of criminal and graft cases, has been living in London since 2008.

The air ambulance, which left Dhaka late on Tuesday night, made a stopover in Doha en route to London.

Zia left home for treatment in the UK, months after a court scrapped her conviction on graft charges following the ouster of ex-premier Sheikh Hasina's regime in a student-led upsurge in August.

The special plane equipped with state-of-the-art medical facilities, including an ICU, was provided by the Emir of Qatar for the ailing Bangladeshi leader.

Media reports said the special air ambulance also carried four Royal Qatari doctors and paramedics while several Bangladeshi doctors were accompanying her as well alongside her younger daughter-in-law and some other relatives.

Doctors have been advocating for her treatment abroad since late 2021, a call denied by the Hasina government.

A day after the fall of the Awami League regime on August 5, 2024, Zia was freed under a presidential order.

She was sentenced to 17 years in prison for graft in 2018 under the rule of Hasina.

Zia had been imprisoned for more than two years. On March 25, 2020, the Hasina government suspended her sentence and granted her conditional release through an executive order.

Subsequently, the government extended her sentence suspension and release period every six months, upon application. Since then, she has been frequently admitted to a specialised private hospital with multiple complaints, including cardiac ailments.

Zia appeared in public on November 21, 2024, at Dhaka Cantonment to join Bangladesh's Armed Forces Day reception at the invitation of the Chief Adviser of the interim government Muhammad Yunus.