DHAKA, April 17 (Xinhua) -- Bangladesh's immediate past Prime Minister Khaleda Zia, who handed power to an interim administration in last October, has finally agreed to go in exile to Saudi Arabia under tremendous pressure from the caretaker government and on condition that her two sons will also be allowed to join her.

    "Her younger son Arafat Rahman will be going with her and the elder son Trique Rahman will join them later on," The Daily Star quoted a highly placed source in the government on condition of anonymity as saying on Tuesday. "She will be leaving the country for Saudi Arabia in a couple of days," the source said.

    After failing to persuade Khaleda Zia to go in exile, the top officials of joint forces arrested her second son Arafat Rahman on Monday, compelling her to yield to the pressures, the daily said.

    Arafat's advertising firm, Advance AD, allegedly wiped its opponents out of the market, thanks to his family influence. It has been in control of the most lucrative advertisements spots in the city during the last five years when his mother was in power.

    According to the daily, Arafat Rahman was not shown arrested officially because a process was on to persuade Khaleda to leave the country. The decision to produce Arafat Rahman before a court Monday evening was dropped after Khaleda Zia had agreed to leave the country. Later at Monday night Arafat Rahman was reportedly released.

    Khaleda's elder son Tarique Rahman, who exercised maximum power from behind the scene and allegedly did widespread corruption and kept money in foreign countries, was arrested on March 8 on charges of corruption.

    Since the declaration of the state of emergency on Jan. 11 and the subsequent assumption of power by the caretaker government headed by Fakhruddin Ahmed, sending of the two chiefs of major political parties -- Khaleda Zia, chief of Bangladesh Nationalist Party (BNP) and Sheikh Hasina, chief of Awami League (AL) -- to exiles has been a much talked about issue.

    Former opposition party AL chief Sheikh Hasina left for the United States on March 15 for a private visit. Criminal charges of extortion and murder were filed against her this month. She will not be allowed to return home, the daily said.

    "Although the authorities asked Hasina not to come before the scheduled date on April 23, now they will ask her not to return at all," the daily quoted a highly placed source as saying.

    According to Bangladeshi Constitution, a caretaker government supervises the country's general elections within three months after it takes office. The former ruling BNP-led four-party government headed by former Prime Minister Khaleda Zia ended its five-year tenure on Oct. 27 2006 and handed over power to the caretaker government headed by Bangladeshi President Iajuddin Ahmed.

    As the two major parties, BNP and AL, could not make consensus on a series of problems, the political crisis deteriorated in the country. Under this situation, President Iajuddin Ahmed had to declare a state of emergency, canceling the election and banning political activities, and resigned from the post of chief advisor of caretaker government on Jan. 11 this year.

    Former central bank governor Fakhruddin Ahmed took oath as the new chief advisor of caretaker government on Jan. 12. This government has been launching a war on corruption and reforms aimed at holding credible elections.