A Bangladesh court has issued arrest warrants for six former Cabinet ministers, including the chief of the country's largest Islamist party, on charges of corruption.

Jamaat-e-Islami leader Moulana Matiur Rahman Nizami and five others were charged in a case involving the awarding of two business contracts to local companies.

The arrest order comes just days after the Anti-Corruption Commission filed charges against more than a dozen others, including former Prime Minister Khaleda Zia and her son, Arafat Rahman. Ms. Zia says she is innocent, and that the allegations are politically motivated. Her political rival, former Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina, also was formally charged with corruption last week. The two are among 150 politicians arrested last year in a nationwide crackdown on corruption.

Matiur Rahman Chowdhury has more on the story.