Bangladesh head says two years of army rule

March 29, 1982

Ahsanuddin Chowdhury, a retired supreme court judge, was sworn in as president of Bangladesh. Mr. Chowdhury will be a purely ceremonial president, since the country is being run by Lieutenant General Hossain Mohammad Ershad, leader of Wednesday's bloodless military coup.

Over the weekend Mr. Ershad announced he would continue military rule in the country for two years, at which point he would allow a referendum or elections for a return to democracy if conditions were right.