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March 7, 2006

Bangladesh: Islamist Leader Recovering After Suicide Bid

The Islamist terror leader, Bangla Bhai, is said to be recovering from injuries he sustained in an apparent suicide attempt when he was arrested early yesterday. He let off an explosive device, and sustained injuries from splinters, leading to loss of blood. He is pictured (left) lying in a hospital bed at Mymensingh Medical College Hospital, after he underwent minor surgery. He is currently in a RAB (Rapid Action Battalion) hospital, under 24-hour lock and guard.

The Daily Star reports that Masud, one of his bodyguards, had arranged for Bangla Bhai and his family to have a house in the village of Muktagachha, near Mymensingh, following the capture of the leader of Jama'atul Mujahideen Bangladesh (JMB), Abdur Rahman, on March 2 in Sylhet, in the northeast of the country, near the border with India.

Apparently, Bangla Bhai had previously visited Muktagachha village on several occasions.

Bangla Bhai, real name Siddiqul Islam, a former madrassa teacher, was a senior member of JMB, and also led his own group, Jagrata Muslim Janata Bangladesh, or JMJB. The name of this group means "Vigilant Muslim Citizens, Bangladesh".

Bangla Bhai is said to be able to talk, though in a "low voice", and has had several operations on his face, hands and other parts of his body. The explosive he detonated was powerful enough to blow the tin roof off the house he was in at the time of his siege and capture.

Yesterday, the Daily Star revealed that two of four cheque books discovered after Abdur Rahman's arrest belonged to a former local leader of the political party, Jamaat-e-Islami, Saidur Rahman. Jamaat-e-Islami is one of the four parties in Bangladesh's coalition government. The party has denied involvement with JMB terrorism, though Bangla Bhai has claimed that he has the support of the party's youth wing, the Islami Chhatra Shibir.

Following the nationwide bombing campaign by JMB on August 17th last year, the Jamaat-e-Islami accused the secular party the Awami League (themselves victims of JMB bomb attacks) of setting off the bombing campaign at a rally in Dhaka, immediately after the attacks, stated the South Asia Analysis Group. The accusations that JMB has links with both the main party in the government, the BNP, and also Jamaat-e-Islami and the Islami Oikya Jote, have been difficult to suppress.

In December Mohammad alias Aman Ullah, a district leader of JMB in Chittagong, stated after his arrest that JMB had the support of thousands of members of Jamaat-e-Islami's youth wing, the Islami Chattra Shibir or ICS. He suggested that Delwar Hossain Saidee, a leading lawmaker for Jamaat-e-Islami, was involved in JMB's activities.

Ullah also claimed that JMB had links with Al Qaeda. Abdur Rahman (pictured below), the head of JMB had paramilitary training in Afghanistan, at the time of the Taliban's rule.

There are many links with government and terror organisations which will hopefully be revealed when Bangla Bhai recovers enough to withstand interrogation.

Beginning on Saturday night, Abdur Rahman and his younger brother Ataur Rahman Sunny were being interrogated in adjoining rooms in East Shaplabagh in Sylhet by the Task Force Intelligence (TIF) body. Whenever one of the pair made a contradictory statement, they were brought face to face.

Posted by Giraldus Cambrensis at March 7, 2006 9:03 PM

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Posted by: eduardo odraude at March 8, 2006 2:39 AM

Posted by: kepiblanc at March 8, 2006 5:31 AM

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