DHAKA — Bangladesh's former prime minister Khaleda Zia, who many believed would sweep elections next year to lead her country once again, died on Tuesday aged 80. The government declared three days of state mourning for the country's first woman prime minister, with vast crowds expected to attend her funeral on Wednesday. Despite years of ill health and imprisonment, Zia vowed in November to campaign in elections set for February -- the first vote since a mass uprising toppled her arch-rival Sheikh Hasina last year. Zia's Bangladesh Nationalist Party (BNP) is widely seen as a frontrunner, and her son Tarique Rahman, who returned only on Thursday after 17 years in exile, is seen a potential prime minister if they win a majority. "The country mourns the loss of a guiding presence that shaped its democratic aspirations," Rahman said in a statement. He said he was also mourning the loss of the "infinite love" of his mother, who "endured repeated arrests, denial of medical care, and relentless persecution". "Yet even in pain, confinement, and uncertainty, she never stopped sheltering her fami