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Police: Bangladesh bombs probe making progress
Bangladesh has yet to determine who ordered last week's serial bombings that killed two people and injured about 100 across the country, police said on Monday. But confessions by some detained suspects suggested that a banned Islamic militant group, Jamaat-ul-Mujahideen, was the likely culprit. "At least 30 of more than 150 people detained for interrogation have said they planted the bombs on Wednesday following instructions from leaders of Jamaat-ul-Mujahideen," said one senior police officer. "We are making progress ... and hope to pin down the real culprits in due course," he said, but declined to release any details for fear of compromising the investigation. Police said security and intelligence agents had continued raids on Monday looking for more suspects while authorities tightened border controls to stop militants from fleeing. Newspapers said on Monday that a U.S. explosives expert had arrived in Bangladesh to assist local intelligence to determine the origin of the bombs and whether the bombers had any international links. Bangladesh home ministry officials would neither confirm nor deny the reports but a U.S. embassy spokesman promised to comment later on Monday. Foreign Minister M. Morshed Khan said on Sunday that, if it proved necessary, Bangladesh would accept offers of assistance from different countries including the United States. He said Dhaka saw Wednesday's bomb blasts as an attack on the "independence, sovereignty and democracy of the country". ISLAMIC RULE No one has claimed responsibility for the bombings, but copies of a leaflet found at most bomb sites carried a call by Jamaat-ul-Mujahideen for Islamic rule in Bangladesh. An editorial on Monday in the influential English-language daily "The News Today" said the "...government faces the twin challenges of restoring confidence of the people in the administration and repairing the dented image of the country both within and outside." "The perpetrators have sent the message very clear and loud that there exists a strong network of terrorists (Islamic or anti-Islamic) who can carry out efficiently any operation across the country." "Now the onus has fallen on the government to dig out the truth and catch the culprits whoever they may be and however powerful they may be." Experts sought to weigh the organisational strength and striking capacity of the bombers. "Many such bomb attacks occurred since 1999, no one claimed responsibility, but it is surprising that this time copies of leaflets of an Islamic group were found at the bombing sites," said M.R. Osmany, chairman of the Bangladesh Institute of International and Strategic Studies. "It proved that the bombers have tremendous organisational capacity," he said. International and local media have long warned Bangladesh of the possible presence of Islamic militants in the country, something the government has steadfastly denied. It did, nevertheless, ban Jamaat-ul-Mujahideen, and another militant group, Jagarata Muslim Janata Bangladesh, in February this year.
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