Khaleda Zia, who has died at the age of 80, was Bangladesh's first female prime minister.
Her husband, Ziaur Rahman, a leading figure in the country's struggle for independence, was president in 1977. At the time, Ms Zia was described as a "shy housewife" devoted to their two sons.
But, following her husband's assassination in 1981, she rose to lead his Bangladesh Nationalist Party (BNP) and served two terms as prime minister - first in the 1990s and then in the early 2000s.
In the brutal world of Bangladeshi politics, she was accused of corruption and spent years in prison - but the charges were dropped after a 2024 uprising that saw her long-time rival, Sheikh Hasina, swept from power.
Begum Khaleda Zia was born in West Bengal in 1945.











