Bangladesh protesters want Nobel laureate Muhammad Yunus to lead government.

President Mohammed Shahabuddin on Tuesday announced that parliament had been dissolved after assuring earlier that new elections would be held as soon as possible.

The announcement came after a scheduled meeting between the protest organisers and the army chief. Meanwhile,

key organisers of Bangladesh’s student protests have said Nobel Peace Prize laureate Muhammad Yunus should head an interim government. Known as the “banker to the poor”, he received the Nobel Peace Prize in 2006 after he pioneered micro- lending and is credited with helping lift millions from poverty by providing tiny loans.

A spokesperson for Yunus said he had accepted the students’ request to be an adviser to the interim government and he would return to Bangladesh “immediately” after a minor medical procedure in Paris.