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Bangladesh on Sunday blocked ailing<\/a> key opposition leader and two-time former premier Khaleda Zia from travelling abroad for life-saving medical treatment, an official and supporters said.<\/p>\n Kayser Kamal, legal chief for Zia\u2019s Bangladesh Nationalist Party (BNP), slammed the government\u2019s decision to bar the wheelchair-bound 78-year-old from leaving \u2014 due to the terms of her effective house arrest \u2014 as an act of \u201cpolitical vengeance\u201d.<\/p>\n Bangladesh is gearing up for general elections due before the end of January, and several Western governments and rights groups have expressed concern over the political climate in a country where the ruling party dominates the legislature and runs it virtually as a rubber stamp.<\/p>\n Zia and her bitter rival, Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina, have dominated the politics of the South Asian nation of 170 million people for over four decades.<\/p>\n In 2008, Zia was sentenced to 17 years in prison for graft, and jailed for two years before being released under house arrest. She has rejected the charges<\/a> as politically motivated.<\/p>\n