Reuters AlertNet Full site
Homepage | Newsdesk | NGO Latest | Crisis briefings | Country profiles | MediaWatch | Jobs | Alerting | Login

NEWSDESK

Bangladesh arrests top leader of Islamist group
16 Feb 2008 09:41:32 GMT
 Source: Reuters
DHAKA, Feb 16 (Reuters) - Bangladesh police has arrested a leader of a militant Islamic group, Harkat-ul-Jihad al Islami, accused of involvement in a grenade attack on a political rally in 2004 in which 23 people were killed, an official said on Saturday.

Mufti Abu Zandal and an accomplice were picked up during a raid on a village near Satkhira district town, 350 km (219 miles) southwest of the capital Dhaka, on Friday. More than 40 grenades were found in a hideout in the village.

The Harkat was blamed for an attack on a rally held by former prime minister Sheikh Hasina in Dhaka on Aug. 21, 2004. Hasina survived, but her hearing was affected by the blasts.

The head of the group, Mufti Hannan, was arrested the following year when the country was rocked by a wave of bombings blamed on several Islamic groups seeking to turn the country into a theocratic state.

"The Islamist militancy is under control at the moment," Hassan Mahmood Khondakar, chief of the Rapid Action Battalion, told a news conference to announce the latest arrest.

Six top leaders of the Jamaat-ul-Mujahideen and Jagrata Muslim Janata Bangladesh, two groups blamed for most of the 2005 bombings, were executed last year. But security experts say many of their followers are still active and trying to regroup.

(Reporting by Nizam Ahmed; Editing by Sanjeev Miglani)


AlertNet news is provided by
Email this article       Send comments

NGO latest

•  Cyclone Sidr: Three months on
HelpAge Intl - UK

•  After the cyclone: lessons from a disaster
Oxfam GB - UK

•  IMPACT 2010: new strategy to take community action to scale
International HIV/AIDS Alliance - UK

•  A helping hand to the fishermen families affected by the Cyclone Sidr - IBC in Bangladesh
IBC- Turkey

•  A helping hand to the fisermen families affected by the Cyclone Sidr - IBC in Bangladesh
IBC- Turkey

MORE >>

Latest news

•  Bangladesh arrests top leader of Islamist group

•  BANGLADESH: More needs to be done to tackle bird flu

•  Bird flu spreads to another Bangladesh district

•  Bangladeshi tells of 22 hours of torture

•  Bangladesh: Tortured Journalist Describes Surviving Military Beatings

MORE >>

AlertNet news is provided by

Related articles

Breaking stories
Bangladesh arrests top leader of Islamist group (1 minute ago)

BANGLADESH: More needs to be done to tackle bird flu (1 minute ago)

AlertNet insight
Climate change and conflicts: Is there a link at all? (1 minute ago)

Aid agency news feed
Cyclone Sidr: Three months on (1 minute ago)

Blogs
Seven security barriers you might want to know about (1 minute ago)

Maps
MAP: Bangladesh: Districts affected by floods and cyclone Sidr (1 minute ago)


Country information

Facts & figures
Bangladesh

Del.icio.us Del.icio.us  |   Digg Digg  |   NewsVine NewsVine  |   Reddit Reddit   
Thumb for /thefacts/imagerepository/RTRPICT/2008-01-17T133915Z_01_DHA07D_RTRIDSP_2_BANGLADESH-TURTLES_mainimage.jpg|/thenews/pictures/DHA07D.htm
Thumb for /thefacts/imagerepository/RTRPICT/2008-01-17T121030Z_01_DHA05D_RTRIDSP_2_BANGLADESH-ACCIDENT_mainimage.jpg|/thenews/pictures/DHA05D.htm
Thumb for /thefacts/imagerepository/RTRPICT/2008-01-17T120702Z_01_DHA04D_RTRIDSP_2_BANGLADESH-ACCIDENT_mainimage.jpg|/thenews/pictures/DHA04D.htm
Thumb for /thefacts/imagerepository/RTRPICT/2008-01-17T115955Z_01_DHA02D_RTRIDSP_2_BANGLADESH-ACCIDENT_mainimage.jpg|/thenews/pictures/DHA02D.htm
Thumb for /thefacts/imagerepository/RTRPICT/2008-01-17T115606Z_01_DHA03D_RTRIDSP_2_BANGLADESH-ACCIDENT_mainimage.jpg|/thenews/pictures/DHA03D.htm

A dead turtle lies on the shore at the Bay of Bengal at Cox's Bazar, January 17, 2008. Bangladesh found at least 40 dead turtles on the beach of the Bay ...


More pictures | Galleries
Disclaimers |  Copyright |  Privacy |  Contact Us |  Feedback |  About Us |  RSS XML

Last updated:Sat Feb 16 09:39:34 2008