The Bangladeshi caretaker government on Thursday said it would drastically put down any clandestine activities of the banned extremist outfit Harkat-ul-Jihad al-Islami (HUJI) led by its detained chief Mufti Abdul Hannan.
Additional Secretary to the Home Ministry Dr Sheikh Abdur Rashid told reporters that although there is no open activity by HUJI, but if any secret act of the group is noticed, it would be dealt with a strong hand.
He said intelligence and law-enforcing agencies have been instructed to maintain a close watch on any activities of the Islamic extremists.
The Bangladeshi government made the statement as U.S. Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice designated HUJI-Bangladesh as a foreign terrorist organization.
Rice in a statement in Washington on Wednesday said the leader of HUJI-Bangladesh signed the February 1998 fatwa sponsored by Osama bin Ladin that declared American civilians to be legitimate targets for attack. Since then, HUJI-Bangladesh has been implicated in a number of terrorist attacks in Bangladesh and abroad.
This designation means that it is illegal for persons in the United States or subject to U.S. jurisdiction to provide material support to HUJI-Bangladesh.
Rice said Bangladesh has been a strong partner of the United States in fighting terrorism, and has taken effective action to bring HUJI-B terrorists to justice and to prevent further attacks.
HUJI emerged in 1992 as an extremist Islamic organization. Mufti Abdul Hannan was arrested on Oct. 1, 2005 and the outfit was banned on Oct. 17 of the same year charged with involvement in subversive activities.
So far, 64 militants of the organization have been arrested, the official said.
Source:Xinhua
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