By IANS

Dhaka : The European Union has expressed satisfaction with Bangladesh's interim government framing laws for protecting human rights and holding civic polls early next year, saying the twin measures would ensure a return to democracy and political stability.

Dutch Ambassador Bea Ten Tusscher, who was part of an EU envoys' team that met Foreign Affairs Advisor Iftekhar Ahmed Chowdhury, told media after the meeting: "We also raised certain human rights cases."

She said statistics showed that human rights abuses have come down and encouraged the government to continue this on positive track, The Daily Star reported Tuesday.

British High Commissioner Anwar Choudhury, a diplomat of Bangladeshi origin, said, "2008 is the year of election" and hoped that a free and fair general election would lead to "a more sustainable democracy in Bangladesh", United News of Bangladesh (UNB) news agency said.

"The Bangladesh government seems to be following the roadmap despite the cyclone," he said.

The foreign advisor assured Choudhury that the Bangladesh government "will work hard with the country's development partners to ensure that the state of human rights in Bangladesh is no less than that of the civilised world".