Bangladesh plans to host the postponed summit of the South Asian Association for Regional Co-operation (Saarc) in the first half of February, a minister said Friday. "If possible we will try to hold the summit between February 7 and 10," Foreign Minister M. Morshed Khan told the private United News of Bangladesh news agency.

Bangladeshi Prime Minister Khaleda Zia on Thursday deferred the Saarc summit that had been set for January 9 to 11 in the wake of Sunday's tsunamis. A new date for the meeting will be set in consultation with the other members of the seven-nation Saarc, the premier's press secretary Tajul Islam told.

Copyright Agence France-Presse, 2005