Bangladesh’s interim government will take oath on Thursday, says the military chief

DHAKA, Bangladesh (AP) — Bangladesh’s military chief said Wednesday that an interim government headed by Nobel laureate Muhammad Yunus would be sworn in on Thursday night as he returns from Paris to take over the administration amid struggle for restoring stability after former Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina was forced to step down and flee.

Gen. Waker-Uz-Zaman said in a televised address late Wednesday afternoon that the responsible for the violence since Hasina’s resignation would be brought to justice.

Yunus is leaving Paris to return home on Thursday to take the oath of office at night.

Speaking to reporters in Paris, Yunis said “I’m looking forward to going back home and seeing what’s happening there, and how we can organize ourselves to get out of the trouble that we are in.″

Asked when elections would be held, he put his hand up as if to indicate it was too early to say. ″I’ll go and talk to them. I’m just fresh in this whole area.″

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THIS IS A BREAKING NEWS UPDATE. AP’s earlier story follows below.

Bangladesh’s main opposition party was holding a public rally in the nation’s capital Wednesday as the country was preparing to form an interim government led by a Nobel laureate, after a mass uprising that left hundreds of people dead and forced the former Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina to step down and flee the country.

The student leaders, who organized the weeks of mass protests, said they would unveil a full list of the new Cabinet on Wednesday. The streets of Bangladesh were calm after reports of violence against supporters of Hasina, police and minority communities which followed soon after she fled to India.

The rally by the Bangladesh Nationalist Party — led by former Prime Minister Khaleda Zia, Hasina’s