Zubaida flies back to London

Zubaida Rahman, the wife of BNP leader Tarique Rahman, has set off for London ahead of her husband’s planned return to Bangladesh after more than a decade in the UK.

She left Dhaka on a Biman Bangladesh Airlines flight from Hazrat Shahjalal International Airport around 8:30 am on Saturday, according to BNP media cell member Atikur Rahman Rumon.

Rumon said Zubaida is expected to travel back to Bangladesh later this week with Tarique and their daughter Zaima Rahman.

The flight is scheduled to reach London’s Heathrow Airport after a stopover in Sylhet, reports bdnews24.com.

Zubaida, a physician by training, had arrived in Dhaka on Dec 5 to be by her ailing mother-in-law, Khaleda Zia's side as the former minister underwent treatment in the critical care unit of Evercare Hospital. She also helped oversee Khaleda's treatment as a member of her medical board.

Her return to London came a day after doctors overseeing Khaleda's treatment said the 79-year-old BNP chief's condition had stabilised.

Khaleda is being treated by a medical board made up of local and international specialists, led by Prof Shahabuddin Talukder. One of the board members, Khaleda's personal physician, Prof AZM Zahid Hossain, told reporters on Friday that her condition had remained “largely stable” over the past month.

The medical board was hopeful that she would continue to recover gradually, he said.

Zubaida first travelled to the UK in September 2008 with her daughter Zaima to seek advanced medical treatment for Tarique, who was unwell at the time.

After the political transition in the country triggered by last year's July Uprising, Zubaida returned to Bangladesh for the first time in May this year alongside her mother-in-law, who had travelled to the UK for treatment. She remained in Dhaka for about a month on that occasion.

Tarique, who has been living in exile in the UK for more than 15 years, is the eldest son of the late president and BNP founder Ziaur Rahman. He is expected to return to Bangladesh on Dec 25 as the country gears up for a general election in February.