BNP Chairperson and opposition leader Khaleda Zia on Saturday left here for Saudi Arabia to perform Umrah in Makkah at the invitation of the Saudi government.A regular flight of Emirates Airlines carrying Khaleda, also former prime minister, and her entourage took off from Hazrat Shahjalal International Airport around 7:20pm.
Earlier, several hundred leaders and activists of BNP and its front organisations saw her off waving at her and chanting slogans in front of the airport as she reached there around 6:45pm.
Senior BNP leaders, including Mirza Abbas, Sadeque Hossain Khoka, Barrister Shahjahan Omar, Gazipur Mayor MA Mannan, BNP joint secretary Barkatullah Bulu, assistant office secretary Abdul Latif Jony, and top leaders of BNP’s associate bodies saw the opposition leader off at the VIP lounge of the airport.
Her younger brother Shamim Eskander, his wife Kaniz Fatema, BNP vice chairman Shamsher Mobin Chowdhury, private secretary ASM Saleh Ahmed and photographer Nuruddin Ahmed will accompany the opposition leader during her visit.
Khaleda goes to Saudi Arabia every Ramadan for the last few years to perform Umrah and pass the last days of the holy moth there in special prayers.
She is expected to return home on August 7. – Staff Reporter
