Peace laureate fights Telenor over Grameenphone

By Aasa Christine Stoltz and John Acher

OSLO (Reuters) - Nobel peace laureate Muhammad Yunus of Bangladesh turned up the heat in battle for control over Bangladesh's Grameenphone on Friday, warning Norwegian co-owner Telenor ASA (TEL.OL: Quote, Profile, Research) it may face a lawsuit.

Telenor owns 62 percent of Grameenphone, Bangladesh's biggest mobile phone operator. Grameen Telecom, a non-profit unit of Yunus's Grameen Bank, owns the rest and insists that Telenor agreed in 1996 to relinquish control within six years.

Yunus, who shared the 2006 Nobel Peace Prize with his bank for lifting millions out of poverty by granting micro-loans, initially pulled no punches on a visit to Oslo.

"Telenor now tells me that it was a mistake to rely on their words," Yunus said in a statement late on Thursday.

He blamed Telenor for sullying the Grameen name and demanded that Telenor pay all of the $60 million in fines saddled on Grameenphone by Bangladeshi regulators for alleged illegalities.

He softened his stance at a Friday evening news conference, saying a lawsuit was only a "remote possibility."

"We are not the kind of people to rush to the courts."

Telenor said it was "very surprised" by Yunus's statement, but repeated that the 1996 deal was not binding.  Continued...