Nobel Laureate Yunus Leads Bangladesh Govt

Bangladesh's Nobel Peace Prize winning economist Muhammad Yunus was sworn in as the head of the country's caretaker government, three days after Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina was forced to quit and flee the country following violent protests.

Yunus will be the chief adviser in the interim government tasked with holding fresh elections in the South Asian country of 170 million people.

The student-led movement that ousted Hasina grew out of protests against quotas in government jobs that spiraled in July, provoking a violent crackdown that drew global criticism, although the government denied using excessive force.

The protests were also fuelled by harsh economic conditions and a feeling of political repression in the country.

Nahid Islam and Asif Mahmud, two student leaders who are both in their mid-20s and led the protests in Bangladesh, were among the 13 who joined the nation's caretaker government.

Islam, 26, was the coordinator of a student movement against quotas in government jobs that morphed into an oust-Hasina campaign. He rose to national fame in mid-July after police detained him and some other Dhaka University students as the protests turned deadly.

Bangladesh's Nobel Peace Prize winning economist Muhammad Yunus was also sworn in as the head of the country's caretaker government, three days after Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina was forced to quit and flee the country following violent protests.

Yunus, 84, was recommended for the role by student protesters and returned to Dhaka from Paris, where he was undergoing medical treatment. Yunus will be the chief adviser in the interim government tasked with holding fresh elections in the South Asian country of 170 million people.