Khaleda vows to crush Islamist militants

BANGLADESH: Bangladesh Prime Minister Begum Khaleda Zia said her government was bringing Islamist militants to justice in the wake of bomb attacks that have killed at least 30 people including two judges and wounded 150.

Police in Bangladesh have detained around 900 suspects since last August following the attacks blamed on Islamic militants.

"We, with the support of the people, have started to detain Islamist extremists and we will soon rid the country of them," Khaleda Zia told a large rally in the capital Dhaka.

The government banned two Islamic groups last year but its leaders Shayek Abdur Rahman, supreme leader of Jamaat-ul-Mujahideen and Siddikul Islam Bangla Bhai, chief of Jagrata Muslim Janata Bangladesh, remain at large.

"Those who kill people by planting bombs in the name of Islam are not Muslims. They are enemies of Islam and are out to destroy the image of the great religion," Khaleda told the rally.

Party supporters chanted "Khaleda go ahead, we are with you" at the rally organised by Jatiyatabadi Juba Dal, the youth front of the ruling Bangladesh Nationalist Party.

It was held to rebut opposition demands that the government resign for failing to tackle Islamists or control rising prices. Dhaka, Monday Reuters