DHAKA, 5 March 2006 — Bangladesh’s opposition parties yesterday demanded for an open and fair trial of the country’s most wanted militant captured by special commando forces from his hideout along with wife and children two days ago.
The demand came from the main opposition party Awami League and 15 other secular groups following the arrest of Sheikh Abdur Rahman from a house in northeastern Sylhet city bringing to a close the saga of a six-month hunt for the man who had allegedly masterminded scores of bomb attacks in the past one year.
Rahman’s banned organization Jamatul Mujahedeen has over 2000 armed volunteers including many suicide bombers who had carried out attacks on civilian targets killing about 100 people and injuring many others.
“Rahman is the founder of the terror network which has been solely responsible for so many deaths that he should be publicly hanged after a open trial,” said Mohammad Nasim, a leader in the Awami League.
Rashed Khan Menon, another prominent opposition figure, said an open trial would “unmask” the deeds of extremists in Bangladesh.
Meanwhile, former foreign minister and leading lawyer Kamal Hossain said the government agents should not interrogate Rahman alone but lawyers, retired judges and representatives of the civil society should be allowed to form a national probe body to grill the suspected extremist.
Hossain, who is credited for authoring Bangladesh’s constitution also said foreign intelligence services, including the American and British, should be involved.
Rahman, who had planned to set up an Islamic state in Bangladesh, a country of 130 million people, vowed to use terror to realize his goal.
On Thursday Rahman gave himself up peacefully to the commandos after holding out in the house for over 33 hours.
Rahman shot into the limelight when his Jamatul Mujahedeen cadres allegedly carried out bomb attacks on 460 sites across the country at the same time in August last year.
After Rahman’s arrest, security forces have concentrated their efforts on hunting down his closest associate Bangla Bhai and members of the Majlis-e-Shura, the governing council of the Jamatul Mujahedeen.
