By Agencies

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The Bangladesh army has foiled a plan to bring down the government of Sheikh Hasina, the prime minister, according to a military spokesman.

Brigadier General Muhammad Masud Razzaq said two retired officers, including a former colonel, had been arrested in connection with the conspiracy and named a serving officer, Major Syed Ziaul Haq, as a "co-planner".

"Specific information has been unearthed that some officers in military service have been involved in the conspiracy to topple the system of democratic governance," Razzaq told reporters on Thursday.

He said the plot had been fomented by Bangladeshi expatriates in touch with "religiously fanatic army officers".

The arrested men were reportedly linked to the banned group Hizb-e-Tahiri.

Intelligence officials had repeatedly warned that radical Islamic groups with links to the military may try to oust Hasina.

Bangladeshi online newspaper bdnews24.com quoted Razzaq as saying Haq had approached a senior officer in December in an attempt to provoke him into using the army against the state.

The officer then informed authorities, the spokesman said.

Hasina's government, which came to power in early 2009, made changes in June last year to bolster the secular character of the Bangladesh constitution, although Islam was retained as the state religion.

The move sparked a series of angry protests by Islamic activists.

A mutiny in the country's paramilitary forces in February 2009 started in Dhaka and spread to a dozen other cities, leaving more than 70 people dead, including 51 army officers.

The revolt was quelled after two days, but the country has since been shadowed by fears of further uprisings.

Bangladesh has a history of coups, with army generals running the impoverished South Asian nation for 15 years until the end of 1990.