Staff Correspondent

The advisers' pre-dialogue meeting with BNP's pro-Delwar faction was deferred Wednesday because of an unscheduled meeting of the advisory council, an adviser said.

Commerce adviser Hossain Zillur Rahman told reporters, after a meeting with communications adviser Ghulam Quadir and local government adviser Anwarul Iqbal, that another meeting scheduled with LDP also had to be postponed because of the cabinet meeting.

"We'll hold these postponed meetings at a later date," he said. On the progress achieved in the pre-dialogue process, the adviser said: "We're yet to sit with a number of other parties for pre-dialogue talks and we're receiving a lot of suggestions, which we plan to synthesise and develop as a complete progress report for the advisory council."

"We are conducting the talks in such a way that can accomplish them neatly and meaningfully." Asked when the main dialogues might start, Zillur said: "I can't tell you the exact time and date, because we're yet to meet with other parties.

We'll talk to everybody who matters." The adviser said the would also sit with the civil society representatives.

Asked if the government's decision to issue an invitation to BNP 'reformist' faction leader Hafizuddin Ahmed for pre-dialogue talks would create any complications, Zillur said: "I don't think so."