"I still have some appointments here, I will return home as soon as these are completed," the AL chief told The Daily Star over telephone.

"People of my country are eagerly waiting and I will return home as early as possible, probably in the first week of next month," said the former prime minister adding that there is nothing more painful than staying away from home.

She thanked all the national and international media for taking a 'strong stance' after the government imposed a ban on her returning home.

"I met with three members of [British] parliament yesterday and talked to some international news channels," the elder daughter of Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujibur Rahman said, adding that she would also talk to Commonwealth Secretary General Don McKinnon and other British parliamentarians.

The three MPs are Robert Wilson, Annmein and Keith Vaz.

Hasina thanked them for their support and discussed the non-issuance of her boarding pass by British Airways.

She said a motion was placed before the British parliament, which included the issue of the ban on her return.

Meanwhile, AL sources said a specific date for her return is yet to be fixed as the caretaker government did not notify the international airlines authorities about the withdrawal of ban on the AL chief's return.

Leaders of the UK chapter of the AL told The Daily Star that the flight for Hasina's return is yet to be booked as the Bangladesh government did not officially notify the authorities of different international airlines about the withdrawal of ban on AL chief and 'no objections' from the Civil Aviation Authority of Bangladesh.

Hasina also mentioned these while talking to The Daily Star last night.

The British Airways that declined to issue Hasina boarding pass on April 22, said in a clarification on April 24 that it did not carry Hasina from London to Dhaka responding to a written notification from the Civil Aviation Authority of Bangladesh that "Sheikh Hasina had been barred from entering Bangladesh."

"As the government earlier officially notified the British Airways not to carry Sheikh Hasina after imposing restriction on her homecoming, now the government will have to notify the airlines' authorities that they have lifted the ban on Sheikh Hasina," said a UK AL leader preferring not to be named.

Sources in the UK said Hasina might return by Emirates or another big airliner.

Meanwhile, the pro-AL lawyers have initiated a move to file a 100 million pound sterling compensation suit against the British Airways for declining to carry Hasina, sources said, adding that the AL leaders would file the case immediately after their party chief returns home.

"We are working on it," barrister Shafique Ahmed, the principal counsel for Hasina, told newsmen at his Supreme Court cubicle.

At the same time the UK AL leaders with the help of some British MPs and human rights experts have also been preparing to file a case with the UN Human Rights Council in Brussels to challenge what they called was a violation of human rights of the former prime minister by blocking her return to Bangladesh.

Seven British MPs on Wednesday moved a motion in the House of Commons calling upon the British Government to review its policy of support for the interim government of Bangladesh 'in the interest of upholding democracy and transparency'.

The motion, moved by Karen Buck, Emily Thornberry, Frank Dobson, Clive Efford, Mr Sadiq Khan, Stephen Pound and Harry Cohen of the British parliament, contains concerns at recent decisions of the government, including the postponement of forthcoming elections until late 2008.