DHAKA, 29 March 2005 — Asma Kibria, the widow of slain Finance Minister Shah A.M.S. Kibria, demanded yesterday that the findings of the probe to be carried out by US Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) must be made public.

Welcoming the arrival of FBI agents for the probe into her husband’s murder in a grenade attack, she said, however belated, their presence would strengthen the work of Bangladesh’s intelligence team.

“We reiterate our position that any investigation by the FBI must fulfill the basic conditions of independence, completeness, accountability and transparency,” Asma said in a press statement.

She said: “When it is completed, the full investigation report must be made available to the public. Nothing less is acceptable.”

She said she had heard that the murder case would be handled under the Law and Order Disruption (Speedy Trial) Act. She said she would not “accept any attempt to rush through an incomplete case to protect the individuals who ordered the killing.”

Asma said: “Naming a few third-tier local ruling BNP leaders as the only culprits fools no one.” She questioned “under whose leadership did these people organize the attack?”

To be acceptable, Asma said, “The charge-sheet must include the names of the masterminds behind my husband’s killing, even if these persons hold positions of power”.

She said she had read newspaper reports that the main accused, Qaiyum, is not being allowed to make confessional statement in front of a magistrate “for fear that he will name those who ordered the killing”.

Asma said, “Any such attempt by those seeking to protect my husband’s killers must be firmly resisted.”

The Kibria family will continue their campaign for a full and proper investigation into the assassination and for an end to “political violence that has gripped” the country.

As part of this campaign, they would hold on March 31 a mass display of the signature banners that have been prepared here and abroad to protest the killing of the former finance minister. She requested all those who seek an end to political violence in the country to demonstrate their commitment to justice and peace by attending the display.