Bangladesh Executes Six Islamic Militants

Six Islamic militant leaders convicted of killing two judges in a 2005 bomb attack and masterminding a series of deadly blasts across Bangladesh were hanged today, in a move seen as an attempt to snuff out extremist violence in the Muslim-majority country.

The men had been sentenced to death last year for their involvement in a series of bomb attacks that killed at least 30 people and wounded 150 in 2005. The victims included judges, lawyers, police and government officials.

The six included Shaikh Abdur Rahman, the leader of the outlawed Jamayetul Mujahideen Bangladesh (JMB), and his deputy, Siddiqul Islam Bangla Bhai. The executed Islamist leaders had been behind a campaign to impose Islamic law on the impoverished country.

Security has been beefed up in the country, which has been under emergency rule since the army installed a government of technocrats in January. Last week police said Islamist groups had threatened fresh attacks if their leaders were hanged.

The bodies of the men were later taken to their villages in wooden coffins and received by weeping relatives. Four of the men had appealed for clemency but their pleas were rejected by Bangladesh's president.

The new administration has been on a campaign to clean up Bangladesh, cracking down on corruption and jailing more than 160 politicians. It has also moved to repair relations with its neighbours – notably talking to India about proposals for new rail links.

The government in Dhaka has made it clear that it would like to stamp out militancy in the country. The interim administration, led by a former Bangladesh central bank chief Fakhruddin Ahmed, has said it will soon enshrine a law to ban any group linked to terrorists.

Reuters news agency reported that one Islamist - detained in the northern district of Pabna on March 14 - told security and intelligence agencies that about 5,000 members of banned Islamist groups were still active in the country. Police said that much of the money flowed from overseas paymasters in the US and Saudi Arabia.