Bangla Islamists confess 2004 attack

Dhaka, Nov 2: Three top leaders of a banned Islamist group told a Bangladesh court that they were responsible for a deadly grenade attack at a political rally in Dhaka three years ago, officials said today.

''Their confessional statements were recorded...at the court of the chief metropolitan magistrate under tight security,'' a court registrar said.

''Mufti Hannan, a HUJI (Harkat-ul-Jihad al Islami) militant leader, and his two accomplices, gave detailed statements why and how they launched the attack,'' said the registrar without giving details.

The attack at a rally held by former prime minister Sheikh Hasina in Dhaka on August 21, 2004 killed 23 people and injured over 150. Hasina survived, but her hearing was affected by the blasts.

Mufti Hannan was arrested in October 2005 during a hunt for suspected Islamists who launched a series of bombings including suicide attacks, between August and December 2005 that killed at least 30 people and wounded 150.

REUTERS
>