Receiving the letter at 7:05pm, BNP Secretary General and LGRD and Cooperatives Minister Abdul Mannan Bhuiyan thanked the Awami League (AL) for its quick response. "We will respond as soon as possible after reading the letter and discussing it with the party chief and other leaders," he said.

The five AL Presidium members nominated for the 10-member committee are Tofail Ahmed, Abdul Jalil MP, Suranjit Sengupta MP, Sheikh Fazlul Karim Selim MP and Kazi Zafrullah MP.

The AL in its letter said it agrees with Bhuiyan that the content of the dialogue should be limited to the opposition's reform proposals for a free and neutral parliamentary election. And it is for that reason that "we have urged to form the committee with members from the AL and the BNP on behalf of the 14-party and four-party respectively so that fundamentalist forces...which have created profound crisis for the democracy and existence of the state cannot create any complexity in the discussion," the AL said.

"We are committed to the 14-party for the content and decision of the discussion. Similarly you should not have any problem to take responsibility of the discussion on behalf of the four-party," the letter signed by AL Acting General Secretary Obaidul Quader reads. "We hope that you will not include any name in the committee that may hamper the dialogue," it adds.

The AL urged Bhuiyan to put up an end to exchanging letters and nominate five BNP representatives to initiate the dialogue quickly.

Bhuiyan told newsmen that the 14-party has given responsibility to the AL regarding nomination of its representatives, "but we have to consider whether or not our allies will allow us to nominate our representatives only from the BNP."

Terming the exchange of letters between the AL and BNP positive, he said the environment could be created as both the parties want a fruitful discussion.

Before dispatching the letter, AL Presidium Member Tofail Ahmed at a press briefing at the AL central office on Bangabandhu Avenue disclosed the names of the AL.

Earlier, the AL leaders talked to party chief Sheikh Hasina and finalised the names and the draft.

A 14-party meeting presided over by AL Presidium Member Abdur Razzak finalised the names of the AL leaders for the dialogue. The meeting was attended by 14-party members, including Tofail Ahmed, Obaidul Quader, Motia Chowdhury, Rashed Khan Menon, Hasanul Haque Inu, Bimal Biswas, Saifuddin Ahmed Manik and Abdus Samad.

AL Office Secretary Abdul Mannan Khan, Deputy Office Secretary BM Mozammel Haque and AL leader SM Kamal Hossain handed over the letter to the BNP secretary general at his official residence.