"She [Khaleda] did not get the Saudi [Arabian] visa and she did not want to go too. There is still some pressure on her to leave for any other country. But she will not leave," Hannan told reporters at his residence yesterday.

He said Khaleda herself conveyed this message to him over phone.

Chief Adviser's Press Secretary Syed Fahim Munaim, on the other hand, told a news briefing yesterday that the government has no plans to send Khaleda abroad and there are no restrictions on her movement.

Chief Adviser Fakhruddin Ahmed on Wednesday also told the BBC that the government had no plans to send her overseas, but Khaleda herself had been planning to go to Saudi Arabia on a religious trip for some time.

Hannan has already come under fire from senior BNP leaders including Dhaka city Mayor Sadek Hossain Khoka, who on Friday questioned Hannan's authority to speak for the BNP chairperson.

Meanwhile, Hannan accused the government of double standards in dealing with the political parties.

While BNP Senior Joint Secretary General and Khaleda's son Tarique Rahman was arrested on corruption charges, a leader of another political party, who has also been charged with extortion, has not been arrested, he said, adding that the biggest achievement of this government has been to arrest a lot of people.