Islamic extremists sentenced to 40 years for killing judges

BANGLADESH: Three members of a banned Islamic group blamed for a string of deadly blasts in Bangladesh were jailed for 40 years each for the murder of two judges, an official said.

The two assistant judges were killed last November when a bomb was thrown at their minibus as they travelled to court in the southern town of Jhalokati.

A special court in the town sentenced the three - all members of the militant group Jamayetul Mujahideen Bangladesh (JMB) - to 30 years for murder and another 10 years for possessing explosives, the court's public prosecutor Mujibur Rahman told AFP.

"The punishment would have been death but they confessed to their crime so the court showed mercy," Rahman added.

The group, which wants strict Islamic law imposed in the Muslim country, has targeted the judiciary and official government buildings in a series of attacks that have killed at least 28 people including four suicide bombers since last August.

Police blame the outlawed organization for 434 synchronized blasts across the country last August 17 and a spate of subsequent attacks including several suicide bombings, the first on Bangladeshi soil.

Leaflets bearing the group's name were found at blast sites calling for Muslim law to replace the existing legal system.

The Islamist-allied coalition government, which recently agreed to cooperate with the US on counter-terrorism measures, has vowed to defend the country's secular system against Islamic militancy.

Thousands of police, troops and security forces have been mobilised in the hunt for JMB members and the group's Afgan war veteran leader leader Shaikh Abdur Rahman.Dhaka,Friday AFP