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[sundubuman]

Haven't heard much about Bangladesh on the Beeb or CNN, too busy blathering about detention centers and criticizing John Bolton.



Bangladesh faces 'national crisis' after serial bomb blasts

Fri Dec 2,12:53 PM ET

DHAKA (AFP) - A government minister and Islamic party leader warned that Bangladesh faced a national crisis after a series of deadly bomb blasts by religious extremists calling for the imposition of strict Muslim law.


Ali Ahsan Mohammad Mujahid called on Bangladeshis to unit against those behind the attacks in the Muslim-majority country including the first suicide bombings that killed 11 people on Tuesday.

The government has long sought to play down the influence of Islamic extremists in the South Asian nation and denies any presence of the Al-Qaeda terror network. But the blasts since August have shaken authorities.

"Terming the attacks a national crisis, Jamaat-e-Islami general secretary and social welfare minister Ali Ahsan Mohammad Mujahid said using bombs to achieve political ends would not resolve the problem," the official BSS news agency said.

The attacks, targeting the judiciary, police, and government buildings, have claimed the lives of 18 people including two judges. Three suicide bombers have also died and scores more have been injured, many seriously.

An unexploded grenade was also found at a function being attended late Friday by the mayor of the northeastern city of Sylhet.

Army bomb disposal experts were being called in to examine the device although it was not clear if it had been thrown at the mayor and failed to explode, Sylhet superintendent of police Ansaruddin Khan Pathan told AFP.

Leaflets in the name of banned group Jamayetul Mujahideen calling for Islamic law to be enforced were found at the sites of most of the recent blast.

The minister said those responsible wanted to create anarchy and were "the enemies of Islam", the BSS said in its report.

On Thursday a police post outside a district administrator's office at Gazipur near Dhaka was attacked killing one person. Two blasts on Tuesday were conducted on a court and a lawyers' association in what police called the country's first suicide attacks.

Police have launched a massive manhunt to track down would-be Jamayetul Mujahideen suicide bombers.

The attacks have rocked Bangladesh which cherishes its status as a moderate Muslim nation and secular democracy.

"We are at a crossroads and only our political parties can end this mess," said security expert and retired brigadier general Sakhawat Hossain.

Political power in Bangladesh has alternated over the past 15 years between the Bangladesh National Party (BNP) and the main opposition Awami League.

The Awami League has accused the BNP, which leads the coalition government, of fostering the rise of Islamic fundamentalism, a charge it strenuously denies.

"The government and the opposition should forget their differences, at least on this very important issue, and join hands to fight this evil force together; otherwise we have a very bleak future waiting for us," Hossain said.

Prime Minister Khaleda Zia has admitted intelligence failures that enabled the perpetrators to carry out the bombings.

The government has been powerless to prevent further attacks with the bombers apparently able to strike at will.

"I don't think this group is big. It is the Osama syndrome. It is a small group which cleverly uses its attacks to maximum effect," said Imtiaz Ahmed, a political and security analyst who teaches at Dhaka University.

"They are reaping the benefits of political divisions. This is a political problem and political parties have to step forward to solve it together."

Business leaders said they were concerned the bombs would deter much needed investment in the impoverished country.

Bangladesh is among the world's poorest nations with nearly half the 140 million population living on less than a dollar a day.

"Previously we had scattered attacks but the arrival of suicide bombers will seriously affect the country's economy," said Mahbub Jamil, president of the Foreign Investors Chamber and Commerce and Industry.




Members from a lawyers group shout anti-government slogans during an anti-bomb protest in Dhaka. A government minister and Islamic party leader warned that Bangladesh faced a national crisis after a series of deadly bomb blasts by religious extremists calling for the imposition of strict Muslim law.(AFP/Farjana Godhuly) http://news.yahoo.com/s/afp/20051202/wl_sthasia_afp/bangladeshblast

[mithridates]

[bucheon bum]

i have a good bangladeshi friend. most crowded country in the world (excluding singapore of course).

[bigverne]

Seems to be a lot of people misunderstanding Islam recently.

[sundubuman]

[bucheon bum]

it's poor and insignificant to the west.

[Ya-ta Boy]

[bigverne]

More Islamic terror from Bangladesh.

http://www.cnn.com/2005/WORLD/asiapcf/12/08/bangladesh.blast/index.html

A suicide bomber has killed eight people and wounded 50 others in the central Bangladeshi town of Netrokona, officials said.

Authorities believe all the incidents, including Thursday's, are linked to the banned Islamic militant group Jamaatul Mujahedin Bangladesh (JMB) -- a group, police say, has a suicide squad of 2,000 members.

JMB is dedicated to establishing Islamic rule in Bangladesh, promising to attack court officials and buildings, administrative targets, cultural organizations, non-governmental organizations and what it calls liberal democratic political organizations.