The party notified the government officially of the matter through a letter yesterday, seeking permission for the presence of its 15 leaders at the airport to see off the former premier, and urging to ensure security for Khaleda's cantonment residence during her stay abroad.

BNP Joint Secretary General Nazrul Islam Khan handed over the letter to Home Secretary Abdul Karim. The party's Assistant Office Secretary Emran Saleh Prince accompanied Nazrul during the meeting with the home secretary.

Both the leaders later met the party's Secretary General Abdul Mannan Bhuiyan in his Gulshan residence in the evening to inform him about their meeting with the home secretary.

The leaders however did not confirm the scheduled date of their chairperson's trip to Singapore, but party sources hinted that Khaleda might leave Dhaka on Thursday.

Later at a news briefing Nazrul Islam Khan, also the official spokesperson of the party, said Khaleda Zia, her younger son Arafat Rahman Coco, his wife, and their two daughters will accompany the BNP chairperson to Singapore as she and Coco are ill.

"Khaleda Zia is sick and she was visibly very weak on Monday when we met her.........her son Coco is also ill, so she had to cancel her trip to Singapore that night but she will go there soon," the BNP joint secretary general said.

Asked if there will be any acting chairperson in absence of Khaleda Zia, Nazrul said, "There has been no instance of giving such responsibility to anyone in the past."

Meanwhile, the BNP chairperson once again urged her party leaders not to express publicly their personal opinions regarding party matters, as everyone will get a chance to say anything in party forums when the military backed interim government will lift the ban on indoor politics.

According to Nazrul, Khaleda Zia also urged the party leaders and activists to stay united and to work for better days.

"The BNP chairperson assured that everybody will get the chance to express his or her opinion in party forums because there are opportunities to express any opinion inside BNP as it is a democratic party," Nazrul said.

About the much talked about reform of the party, he said, "BNP is the largest political party in the country and Khaleda Zia played a historic role in restoring democracy.... BNP will play a leading role in everything necessary for strengthening democracy and for ensuring development."

"All issues related to the party and the country will be discussed at all levels of the party after the ban on indoor politics is lifted," according to Nazrul's claim Khaleda had told him.

He also said the chairperson told him that the party will take decisions about reforms after discussing organisational, political, and electoral matters in proper forums.

"The former prime minister also inquired about the well-being of leaders and activists of the party and expressed her sympathies for those leaders who had been arrested and suffered other problems," Nazrul said replying to a question.

When asked about Khaleda's trip to Singapore, Nazrul told reporters, "She will go soon and will return before May 30, the death anniversary of late president Ziaur Rahman."

In reply to another question, he however said, "It is tough to say exactly how many days she will stay there but she will definitely not stay a single day more than necessary."

"According to the suggestion of expert physicians, I along with my younger son and my daughter-in-law will go to Singapore for treatment," Nazrul quoted Khaleda Zia as saying.

"We informed the home ministry regarding Khaleda Zia's trip abroad as she is a former prime minister," Nazrul said when the reporters asked him about his meeting with the home secretary yesterday afternoon in the secretariat.

"We also urged the government to ensure security for the former prime minister's cantonment residence as one of her daughters-in-law and one of her grand daughters will stay there in absence of her," he said adding that they also submitted a list of senior leaders who would like to be present at the airport to see Khaleda Zia off.

When a reporter asked Nazrul whether a rumour that Arafat Rahman did not get clearance from the government for leaving the country with his mother is true, the BNP leader said he had no knowledge of such a rumour.