Dhaka/IBNS, Dec. 30 -- Former Bangladesh Prime Minister Khaleda Zia passed away after a prolonged illness at the age of 80 on Tuesday.

The Bangladesh Nationalist Party (BNP) confirmed that the country's first woman Prime Minister died at 6 a.m., shortly after the Fajr prayer.

Zia was undergoing treatment at Evercare Hospital in Dhaka. She passed away in the presence of family members, including her eldest son and BNP acting chairman Tarique Rahman, who had returned to Bangladesh from London, where he had been living in exile since 2008.

Born on August 15, 1945, Khaleda Zia was the widow of former President Ziaur Rahman, the founder of the BNP, which she later led to national prominence.

She entered politics following her husband's ass...