Bangladesh charges 13 militants over deadly 2001 attack

13 members of Harkat ul Jihad al Islami (HuJI) will be hanged if proven guilty

DHAKA: A Bangladesh court on Thursday charged 13 members of Harkat ul Jihad al Islami (HuJI) with murder over a 2001 bomb blast at a political rally in Dhaka that left five people dead.

A judge ruled that the head of the outlawed outfit HuJI, and four other members should be tried for the attack, a prosecutor said.

All 13, including HuJI leader Mufti Abdul Hannan, face death by hanging if they are found guilty in the trial of the attack.

"Of the accused, five including Mufti Hannan were present at the court room when the judge charged them for murder. The remaining eight are absconding," Asaduzzaman Rochi told AFP.

The eight, who have long been on the run, were charged in absentia.

The blast targeting the Communist Party of Bangladesh rally instantly killed four people and injured at least 25, one of whom later died later in hospital, he said.

The attack was one of a string that rocked Bangladesh after 1999 when many of the country's Islamists started returning from militant activities in Afghanistan.

The militant organisation created mayhem by targeting  Christians, Sufi shrines, communists, cultural activists and secular parties whom they considered to be against Islam.

Hannan, who set up HuJI in Bangladesh, has already been sentenced to death in two others cases including a grenade attack on the British High Commissioner, which left three people dead. The envoy was unharmed.

Ten years ago, another deadly grenade attack was also carried out at a rally in favour of current Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina, who was opposition leader at that time.

The attack, also blamed on the Hannan-led HuJI, left at least 20 people dead including the wife of a former Bangladesh president.