28/01/2005
01. Kibria, 4 AL men killed in grenade attacks 70 wounded as killers throw 2 grenades on AL rally in Habiganj; Hartal tomorrow Former finance minister Shah AMS Kibria and four other Awami League (AL) activists were killed in a grenade attack on an AL rally at Boidder Bazar in Habiganj yesterday evening. About 70 others were injured in the grisly attack, similar to the August 21 carnage on Sheikh Hasina's rally in the capital last year that had claimed 23 lives and left several hundred wounded. The four other dead were identified as Kibria's nephew Shah Manjurul Huda, 40, and AL activists Siddique Ali, 35, and Abdur Rahim, 50, of Bongaon village and Abul Hossain of Shayestaganj. The AL called a countrywide dawn-to-dusk hartal for tomorrow protesting the attack. It blamed the BNP and the Jammat for the carnage and planned a 'non-stop agitation' after the shutdown. District unit AL also called for a daylong hartal today in Habiganj. Immediately after the attack, critically wounded Kibria and Habiganj District AL General Secretary Abu Jahid were rushed to the capital by an ambulance. Kibria died on the way to Dhaka and doctors at Birdem Hospital declared him dead at about 12:30am, soon after he was taken to the hospital. Kibria's nephew Shah Manjurul Huda, AL activists Siddique Ali and Abdur Rahim died on the spot. Abul Hossain who was brought to Dhaka along with three others died at Birdem at about 1:00am. An advisor to the Awami League, Kibria was elected a member of parliament from Habiganj-3 constituency in the 2001 general elections. In instant protest, people torched a ruling BNP office and at least 15 other establishments, vandalising some of them, in the northeastern district town, 15km off the spot. Additional police forces were called in to quell the tense situation prevailing in the district. Habiganj Superintendent of Police Abu Musa Fakhrul Islam said primarily they were suspecting it to be a grenade attack. But an investigation could confirm whether those were grenades, he added. Kibria went to Habiganj on Wednesday on an organisational tour. His elder brother Shah Shamsul Huda and nephew Shah Manjurul Huda accompanied him. He spoke as the chief guest at the meeting organised by Laskarpur Union unit of AL. The namaj-e-janaza of the late AL leader will be held today after Juma prayers at the Baitul Mukarram National Mosque. A decision on his burial will be taken on arrival of his son from abroad. THE ATTACKS Witnesses said the first grenade was hurled at the end of the rally at Boidder Bazar Primary School playground when Kibria was about to board his car after speaking at the rally. District AL Joint Secretary Alamgir said the grenade was hurled at Kibria at about 7:05pm. "It was a close call," he said as Kibria sustained serious injuries all over his body. Former chairman of Habiganj Pourashava Shahid Uddin Chowdhury, a witness to the grisly incident, told newsmen later that when leaders were getting down from the dais after the meeting, the first grenade was thrown at them and then the second one came when they ran for cover. Hit by splinters, the former finance minister and others fell to the ground. Kibria became unconscious sustaining injuries on different parts of his body with his two legs fatally wounded. He was first rushed to Habiganj Sadar Hospital where resident medical officer Dr Abdullah gave primary treatment to an unconscious Kibria. After consultation with party President Sheikh Hasina, local leaders decided to send him to Dhaka by an ambulance as they failed to manage a helicopter. The conditions of district AL Joint Secretary Alamgir, Organising Secretary Rajan Chowdhury and General Secretary of district Awami Ainjibi Parishad advocate Abdul Ahad Faruq were also reported critical. They along with scores of other wounded AL leaders and workers were admitted to Habiganj Sadar Hospital. At Habiganj Sadar Hospital, where 37 people with splinter injuries were rushed in, was overcrowded with the friends and relations of the victims. Relatives alleged of lack of proper treatment and absence of doctors at the hospital. PROTESTS Hearing the news, AL's student, youth and volunteer wings -- Bangladesh Chhatra League (BCL), Jubo league and Swechchhasebak League -- took out a joint protest procession from the party central office on Bangabandhu Avenue in Dhaka. The protestors later held a rally on the avenue. Swechchhasebak League General Secretary Pankaj Debnath, Dhaka City AL Joint Secretary Hazi Selim and BCL President Liakat Sikder addressed the rally, with Jubo League Chairman Jahangir Kabir Nanak in the chair. At last night's emergency meeting of AL working committee, the opposition party called for a hartal tomorrow and accused the BNP-Jamaat government for the attack. The meeting, chaired by AL chief Sheikh Hasina, deplored the grenade attack and said it was pre-planned to annihilate the political adversaries. The main opposition party leaders said the attack on Habiganj public meeting was part of a blueprint to kill its leaders and activists. The August 21 grenade attack in Dhaka and yesterday's one at Habiganj proved that there was no security of life of the opposition leaders, activists and the people in general, they said. The AL will also stage demonstrations in the capital this afternoon. The party also sent a delegation led by opposition Chief Whip Abdus Shahid from Dhaka to visit the place of occurrence. Communist Party of Bangladesh (CPB), Bangladesher Samajtantrik Dal (BSD) and Jatiya Party (Manju) condemned the grenade attack and killing of Kibria and three others. http://thedailystar.net/2005/01/28/d5012801011.htm 28/01/2005 02. Al Rally in Habiganj : Kibria critically wounded, 3 killed in grenade attack, 70 injured; countrywide hartal tomorrow Staff Correspondent Former finance minister Shah AMS Kibria was critically injured along with more than 70 others and three Awami League activists were killed in a grenade attack last night on an AL rally at Boidder Bazar under Sadar upazila in Habiganj. The dead were identified as Kibria's nephew Shah Manjur, 40, and AL activists Siddique Ali, 35, and Abdur Rahim, 50, of Bongaon village. Immediately after the attack, severely wounded Kibria and Habiganj District AL General Secretary Abu Jahid were rushed to the capital by an ambulance, AL sources said. >From an impromptu AL central working committee meeting last night, the main opposition called a countrywide dawn-to-dusk hartal for tomorrow protesting the outrage similar to the August 21 carnage last year that had cost 21 lives and left over one hundred injured. AL will also stage demonstrations in the capital this afternoon. In instant retaliation to the heinous act, people torched a ruling BNP office and at least 15 other establishments, vandalising some of them, in the northeastern district town of Habiganj, 15km off the spot -- Boidder Bazar Primary School playground. Additional police forces were called in to quell the tense situation prevailing in the district until filing of this report late last night. According to local sources, the grenade was hurled near the end of the meeting when Kibria was about to board his car after speaking as the chief guest. The condition of district AL joint secretary Alamgir was also reported as critical. He along with scores of other wounded AL leaders and workers were admitted to Habiganj Sadar Hospital. Talking to the United News of Bangladesh Alamgir said the grenade was hurled at Kibria at about 7:05pm. "It was a close call," as Kibria sustained serious injuries in both of his legs, he said. Hearing the news, AL's student, youth and volunteer wings -- Bangladesh Chhatra League (BCL), Jubo league and Shechchhasebok League -- took out a joint procession from their office at Bangabandhu Avenue. The protestors later held a rally on the avenue. Shechchhasebak League General Secretary Pankaj Debnath, Dhaka City AL Joint Secretary Hazi Selim and BCL President Liakot Sikder addressed the rally, with Jubo League Chairman Jahangir Kabir Nanak in the chair. http://thedailystar.net/2005/01/28/d5012801011.htm 28/01/2005 03. Witness account: Power cut before attacks Bishawjit Das Witnesses to yesterday's grenade attacks on SAMS Kibria said the killers had switched off power at the rally venue before carrying out the carnage in the twilight. "Sir (Kibria) was the target of the attackers," Anup Kumar Dev, Habiganj district AL office secretary, said while describing the incident to The Daily Star. "The grenade was thrown at them as they stepped out of the narrow school gate where the meeting was held. The blast rocked the whole area spreading hundreds of splinters." "I found all who were accompanying Sir (Kibria) lying in a pool of blood. I've never seen so much of blood in my life," he said. "We've seen the photographs of the grenade attacks on Bangabandhu Avenue and it was not different from that," he added. Anup and other witnesses who took Kibria and two others -- Habiganj district AL General Secretary (GS) advocate Abu Jahid and upazila AL Organising Secretary Abdulah Sarder -- to the capital said they did not see who threw the grenades. "It was a planned killing and I've no doubt the killers were professionals," said Abdur Rashid Talukder Iqbal, GS of AL Sadar upazila unit. Another witness, Shajahan, finance secretary of Habiganj district BCL, told The Daily Star that they did not imagine any such attack in even nightmares. "The grenade thrashed Sir's left leg and the splinters cut his whole body. He was bleeding profusely, we failed to stop it," he said. "After the attack, we could manage only one ambulance although many were lying seriously injured. We took Sir, Zahid and Abdullah in the ambulance and got another ambulance at Madhabpur," he said. PLANNED ELECTRICITY CUT? Witnesses said electricity went out just after the meeting ended. "The meeting venue plunged into darkness with a sudden power cut just before the attack," Anup Kumar Dey, district AL office secretary, said. "We had nothing to doubt when electricity suddenly went out. But then we heard the blasts and the electricity returned in a few seconds," said Anup. "We're sure it was the killers who deliberately cut the power supply," he observed. http://thedailystar.net/2005/01/28/d5012801022.htm 28/01/2005 04. Five killed, dozens wounded in grenade attack in Bangladesh DHAKA, Bangladesh (AP) - A grenade exploded at an opposition rally in northeastern Bangladesh, killing a former finance minister and at least four other people and wounding about 100 others, doctors and reports said Friday. Former Finance Minister Shah Mohammad Kibria, who had just finished giving a speech at the rally, was wounded in the blast and died while on the way to a hospital late Thursday, doctors said. The attack on an opposition Awami League rally occurred in Habiganj district, 120 kilometers (75 miles) northeast of the national capital Dhaka on Thursday, the United News of Bangladesh said. "There was a big bang as we were about to leave the rally. I saw several people screaming in pain,'' said Shahid Chowdhury, an opposition leader at the scene. No one claimed responsibility for the attack. The injured were taken to hospitals, some of them in serious condition, Iqbal said. "The hospitals here are struggling to treat so many injured people,'' said Chowdhury. A police official, speaking on condition of anonymity, confirmed there was an explosion and casualties at the rally. He said senior police officials were at the site investigating. The Awami League _ led by the country's former Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina _ called for a nationwide general strike to condemn the attack, the party said. Hundreds of angry opposition members took to the streets in Habiganj town to protest, smashing vehicles and attacking shops, according to witnesses. Iqbal said authorities deployed extra security forces to the town to try to prevent violence. In August, a grenade attack on an Awami League rally in Dhaka killed 21 people and injured more than 300. Sheikh Hasina, who escaped unharmed, blamed the government for the blasts. The government denied involvement and condemned the attack _ but failed to make any headway in catching those responsible.-AP http://thestar.com.my/news/story.asp?file=/2005/1/28/latest/21001Fivekille&sec=latest 27/01/2005 05. Bomb kills ex-minister, 3 others at Bangladesh rally DHAKA (Reuters) - A bomb blast killed at least four people, including a former finance minister, on Thursday at an opposition rally in northeastern Bangladesh, police and witnesses said. The bomb exploded at a rally of the main opposition Awami League at Laskarpur, 250 km from the capital Dhaka. Around 50 other people were wounded. A party spokesman said former Finance Minister Shah Abu Mohammad Shamsul Kibria, 70, was among the dead. Others who died in the blast included a nephew of Kibria and two party workers. After the blast, protesting Awami workers and supporters went on a rampage, attacking and damaging dozens of vehicles and shops, witnesses said. Authorities later deployed extra police and paramilitary troops at Laskarpur, which local reporters said looked like a "ghost town" after dark on Thursday. Kibria who had been sitting on the dais at the rally when the bomb went off, died in a Dhaka hospital around midnight. Hospital doctors confirmed his death to reporters, and said another person taken to the hospital was fighting for his life. "Kibria is dead," the party spokesman said, without giving details. In protest, the Awami League called for a nationwide general strike on Saturday following countrywide protests on Friday. Police were investigating whether the bomb had been planted before the rally or had been thrown. The Awami League quickly blamed the government. "It (the blast) came in the wake of an unending conspiracy by the government to eliminate democratic forces, especially its opponents," said Saber Hossain Chowdhury, political secretary to Awami leader Sheikh Hasina, a former prime minister. Hasina narrowly escaped injury in August when at least three grenades exploded at a rally she was addressing in Dhaka. Twenty-three people were killed and hundreds wounded. In May, British High Commissioner Anwar Choudhury was wounded in a bomb blast at the shrine of a Muslim saint. Three people were killed in the blast. The strike on Saturday, a working day in mostly-Muslim Bangladesh, would come a week before Bangladesh hosts a meeting of south Asian leaders in Dhaka. The interior ministry said some 20,000 police and other forces would be deployed in the capital to tighten security during the South Asian Association for Regional Cooperation (SAARC) summit on Feb. 6 and 7. In her recent public speeches, Prime Minister Begum Khaleda Zia has accused the opposition of trying to create anarchy in the country through shutdowns and lawlessness, and vowed her government would resist such attempts. Political analysts said the Awami League could try to use Saturday's strike to broaden its campaign to force an early parliamentary election, which is not due before October 2006. (Additional reporting by Masud Karim) http://www.reuters.com/newsArticle.jhtml;jsessionid=NTRIKZ5TAUFB4CRBAEKSFFA?type=topNews&storyID=7457922&pageNumber=1 27/01/2005 06. Kibria among 100 injured in Habiganj: 3 killed in grenade attack By Habiganj Correspondent At least three people were killed and more than 100 injured, including former Finance Minister Shah AMS Kibiria MP, in a grenade attack on an Awami League public meeting at Boidder Bazar in the district yesterday. Kibria’s nephew, Shah Manju, 40, who was among the wounded, died at Habiganj Hospital. Two other dead victims were identified as Siddique Ali, 30, and Abdur Rahim, 45. SAMS Kibria, a senior Awami League leader, sustained serious splinter injuries on both his legs and was rushed to Dhaka in an ambulance for treatment. About 60 others, wounded in the attack, were admitted to Habiganj Hospital and clinics. Awami League called a nationwide day-long hartal tomorrow (Saturday) and demonstrations in Dhaka today (Friday) in protest against the grenade attack on the meeting. Joint Secretary of Habiganj Awami League Advocate Alamgir, who was also injured in the explosion, told newsmen that a grenade was hurled at Kibria after he finished his speech at about 7:05pm at Boidder Bazar Primary School ground. Habiganj Sadar thana confirmed that three people died in the attack. This was a second such deadly assault on Awami League rally after the August 21 grenade attack on opposition leader Sheikh Hasinas rally in Dhaka, which left at least 21 people dead and hundred others injured. In Sylhet, British High Commissioner to Bangladesh Anwar Choudhury was wounded when a grenade was thrown at the shrine of Hazrat Shah Jalal (RA) in May last year. Meanwhile, local leaders and activists of Awami League staged a demonstration in the town in protest against the grenade attack. A section of AL workers went on a rampage and damaged several vehicles in the town. They also pelted stones at the local BNP office immediately after the incident. No one was arrested till filing of this report at 10:00pm on Thursday. Habiganj AL leaders termed the attack as an attempt on the life of SAMS Kibria. A tense situation was prevailing in the town following the incident. Local administration beefed up security to avert any backlash. Meanwhile, an emergency meeting of the AL Central Working Committee accused the government for the attack at the meeting. http://nation.ittefaq.com/artman/publish/article_15753.shtml __________________________________________________ Do You Yahoo!? Tired of spam? Yahoo! Mail has the best spam protection around http://mail.yahoo.com ------------------------ Yahoo! Groups Sponsor --------------------~--> DonorsChoose. A simple way to provide underprivileged children resources often lacking in public schools. 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