FACTBOX: Five facts on Bangladesh's ex-leader Khaleda Zia

(Reuters) - Bangladesh arrested and refused bail for former leader Begum Khaleda Zia on Monday, witnesses and officials said, in the latest twist in political turmoil which has engulfed the country since Khaleda stepped down last October.

Here are five facts on the country's two-times former leader:

* Born in northwestern Bangladesh in 1945, Khaleda married General Ziaur Rahman, one of the country's liberation war heroes, in 1960. Her husband became president in 1977, and founded the Bangladesh Nationalist Party (BNP), but was assassinated in an attempted coup in 1981.

* Khaleda, described as a shy housewife who was devoted to raising her two sons, was elected chairperson of the BNP in August 1984, two years after army chief Hossain Mohammad Ershad seized power in 1982.

* Joining other anti-Ershad groups in a seven-party alliance, she was detained several times during his autocratic nine-year rule. In December 1990, Ershad was forced to resign after a popular uprising, and Khaleda first won election in February 1991.

* Ousted from power by her rival Sheikh Hasina and her Awami League party in June 1996 elections, Khaleda returned to office in 2001. In October 2006 her five-year term ended and she handed over power to a caretaker administration ahead of elections that were subsequently delayed.

* Khaleda's rival Hasina, who has been detained in jail since July 16 on extortion charges, has accused Khaleda's BNP and its Islamic allies of having links to outlawed Islamist groups. Khaleda is generally viewed as more pro-Pakistan, while Hasina is thought to favor closer ties with giant neighbor India.

Sources: Reuters