DHAKA, 7 December 2005 — Bangladesh Prime Minister Khaleda Zia, struggling to contain an upsurge in militancy at home, left for Saudi Arabia yesterday to attend a summit of the Organization of the Islamic Conference (OIC).
Foreign Minister M. Morshed Khan said the prime minister wanted to attend the summit because it would bring together leaders of the entire Muslim world to discuss issues of international concern.
“She (PM) may have insights about extremism to contribute in the OIC conference,” said a Western diplomat in Dhaka. “This is a problem facing many of the world’s Muslim nations.” Bangladesh has been hit by a wave of bombings since Aug. 17, blamed on militants fighting to turn the country into a Shariah-based state.
State Minister for Home Affairs Lutfuzzaman Babar said two outlawed Islamist groups — Jamatul Mujahedeen and Jagrata Muslim Janata Bangladesh — had set up a 2,000-strong suicide bomber squad to help achieve their goals.
Police hunting for suicide bombers said yesterday they detained 40 suspects overnight across the country and that they were closing in on kingpins of the recent wave of bombings. An eight-member explosive experts team from Singapore yesterday visited Gazipur, 30 km north of Dhaka, where suicide bombers killed 14 people and injured dozens in two separate attacks last week.
“The explosive experts from Singapore have been invited to assist police in probing the bomb attacks,” a senior police officer said.
Police said they seized nine kg of explosives from a house in Gazipur and four live bombs from Narayanganj, near Dhaka, yesterday. Security forces went on a special alert after following the attacks.
