Nobel laureate Muhammad Yunus to head Bangladesh’s interim government

Nobel laureate Muhammad Yunus will head Bangladesh's interim government after longtime prime minister Sheikh Hasina fled the country amid a mass uprising that left hundreds of people dead and pushed the South Asian nation to the brink of chaos.

The decision, announced early on Wednesday by Joynal Abedin, the press secretary of the country's figurehead President Mohammed Shahabuddin, came during a meeting that included military chiefs, organisers of the student protests that helped drive Hasina from power, prominent business leaders and civil society members.

A longtime political opponent of Hasina, Yunus is expected to return soon from Paris, where he is advising Olympic organisers, media reports said.

An economist and banker, he was awarded the 2006 Nobel Peace Prize for his work developing microcredit markets. Yunus has been hailed for bringing thousands out of poverty through Grameen Bank, which he founded in 1983, and which makes small loans to businesspeople who wouldn't qualify for regular bank loans.

Other members of the new government would be decided soon, after discussions with political parties and other stakeholders, Abedin said. The president had dissolved parliament on Tuesday, clearing the way for an interim administration and new elections.

Shahabuddin also ordered the release of opposition leader Khaleda Zia from house arrest, a longtime Hasina rival who was convicted on corruption charges in 2018

Yunus, who had called Hasina's resignation the country's "second liberation day," had faced corruption charges during her rule that he derided as politically motivated. He could not immediately be reached for comment, but a key organiser of the protests, Nahid Islam, said he had agreed to head the interim administration.