Bangladesh captures Taliban-trained militant

DHAKA, May 15 (Reuters) Bangladesh police have arrested a man who claimed to have been trained by the Taliban but denied links with oulawed Bangladeshi Islamist groups, officials said today.

The arrest came a day after a Bangladesh court sentenced 13 Islamic militants to up to 30 years in prison for involvement in a series of deadly bomb blasts on August 17 last year.

Four of them, including a regional commander, were still at large and were tried and sentenced in their absence.

Two people were killed and about 100 others injured on August 17 after militants detonated nearly 500 bombs across the country, including in the capital, Dhaka.

The latest arrest was also on Sunday. A police official said Abu Sufiyan, 47, was taken into custody in the western district of Magura yesterday.

He said he was a supporter of Saudi-born Osama bin Laden and had received training from Afghanistan's former rulers, the Taliban, the official said.

''We suspect Sufiyan to be a trainer of Bangladeshi militants, but he denied any links with outlawed Islamist groups Jamaat-ul-Mujahideen and Jagrata Muslim Janata Bangladesh,'' said the official, who asked not to be identified.

Sufiyan, a Bangladeshi, is being interrogated in custody.

Copies of leaflets found at most of the blast sites in August suggested that Jamaat-ul-Mujahideen perpetrated the blasts to show their organised strength and force the government to introduce tough sharia laws in the overwhelmingly Muslim country.

The Jamaat-ul-Mujahideen, along with Jagrata Muslim Janata Bangladesh, continued a bombing blitz over the next several months, killing a total of 30 people and wounding more 150.

The victims included judges, lawyers, policemen and journalists.

Militant violence has receded since security forces captured top leaders of the two groups -- Shayek Abdur Rahman and Siddikul Islam Bangla Bhai -- along with their key deputies in March and sent others on the run, State Minister for Home Affairs Lutfuzzaman Babar told reporters.

Yesterday's sentences were handed down at a speedy trial court in the town of Rajshahi, about 300 km northwest of Dhaka, government lawyers said.

Ten people were sentenced to 30 years in jail while three others were given 20 years.

In February, another court in southern Barisal district sentenced Shayek and Bangla Bhai to 40 years imprisonment -- while they were still in hiding.

Now in custody, the two are also being charged in several more cases of murder, illegal possession and use of weapons and masterminding the militancy, lawyers and police said.

REUTERS AK SSC1341