DHAKA (AFP) - Bangladesh's military-backed government is close to freeing ex-prime minister Khaleda Zia, a minister said Saturday, as part of an apparent deal to secure her party's participation in December general elections. "It is in the final stage.... I hope there will be a result very soon," commerce minister Hussain Zillur Rahman told reporters. The army-backed government, which detained Zia in September last year as part of a nationwide corruption crackdown, released her arch-rival Sheikh Hasina Wajed - also a former premier - in June. Sheikh Hasina, who still faces corruption charges, was allowed to travel to the United States for treatment of ear problems in an apparent deal with the government under which her Awami League party agreed to take part in the elections. The administration is keen to ensure the participation of the Awami League and Zia's Bangladesh Nationalist Party (BNP) - Bangladesh's two main political parties - to ensure that the polls planned for December are credible. Both parties had refused to participate in talks aimed at restoring democracy in Bangladesh because their leaders were in detention. After her release in June, Sheikh Hasina announced her party would take part in the elections. Observers said Sheikh Hasina, who served as prime minister between 1996 and 2001, was forced into voluntary exile as part of the deal. Zia has said she would rather stay at home and be treated for her acute arthritis at local hospitals.