It castigated the opposition for calling frequent hartals and 'damaging the image' of the country.

To face the situation, the BNP will hold rallies across the country on February 7. Then they will jointly hold grand public meetings in different parts of the country, meeting sources said.

The coalition also decided that its component parties -- BNP, Jamaat-e-Islami, Bangladesh Jatiya Party (BJP) and Islami Oikya Jote (IOJ) -- will announce and observe their political programmes separately.

"We have decided to observe programmes individually first and then go for united programmes," said BNP Secretary General Abdul Mannan Bhuiyan at a press briefing after a meeting of top leaders of the four parties.

Chaired by BNP chief and Prime Minister Khaleda Zia, the meeting deeply regretted the postponement of the Saarc summit, and blamed the main opposition Awami League (AL) for launching a campaign against holding of the summit in Bangladesh and calling hartal coinciding with it.

Most of the alliance leaders attending the meeting held at the Prime Minister's Office accused the AL of persuading the Indian leadership into not attending the Saarc summit in Dhaka.

They expressed dissatisfaction at the Indian refusal to attend the summit and said the Indian government apparently gave importance to a particular political party instead of regional cooperation and bilateral relations, according to meeting sources.

"They (AL) convinced India not to come and join the Summit," said Bhuiyan.

The meeting decided to mobilise public opinion against the AL.

The alliance leaders expressed deep shock at the killing of AL leader and former finance minister SAMS Kibria.

Mannan Bhuiyan said the AL always opposed holding of the Saarc summit in Dhaka and had called hartal when it was first scheduled in January and also this time using the death of Kibria as an excuse.

The AL had also called hartal during the 7th Saarc summit in Dhaka in April 1993, the LGRD and Coooperatives minister recalled.

Security reason shown by the Indian government for not attending the summit in Dhaka is unacceptable, Bhuiyan said. The government had taken unprecedented security measures and all preparations for the summit, he added.

Bhuiyan said the death of Kibria was an isolated incident because the overall law and order across the country was quite normal for the last few months.

Asked whether the postponement of the Saarc summit would have a negative impact on Indo-Bangladesh relations, the LGRD and Cooperatives minister said, "We want to keep our existing relations intact and maintain friendly relations. If any misunderstanding is created, we prefer to remove that through discussion."

The meeting was also attended by BNP leaders Dr Khandaker Mosharraf Hossain and M Shamsul Islam, Jamaat leaders Matiur Rahman Nizami and Ali Ahsan Muhammad Mujahid, BJP leaders Naziur Rahman Manzur and Kazi Firoz Rashid and IOJ leaders Azizul Haq and Fazlul Haq Amini.

Meanwhile, the BNP secretary general addressing a press conference at his residence yesterday accused the main opposition AL of 'hatching conspiracy' for postponement of the Saarc summit.

"It is very unfortunate that the Indian government refused to join the summit at the last moment showing the reasons of security in Bangladesh and political situation in Nepal," Bhuiyan said, adding, "The political crisis in Nepal is an internal matter and the security situation in Bangladesh is quite good."

"The killing of Kibria is an isolated incident and such an incident does not prove that the government is unable to ensure security for a few guests," he said.

He said the AL is trying to reap political benefit from Kibria's killing. "Actually there was no political issue in the hand of opposition party and that's why they are deliberately trying to deteriorate the country's law and order," he added.

BNP senior Joint Secretary Tarique Rahman, Dhaka City Corporation Mayor Sadeque Hossain Khoka, Housing and Public Works Minister Mirza Abbas and Fisheries and Livestock Minister Abdullah-al-Noman were also present at the press conference.