South Asia News
Bangladesh charges British charity chief with financing terrorism
Apr 28, 2009, 17:43 GMT
Dhaka - Investigators Tuesday formally charged the head of a British charity and 10 Bangladeshi agents with financing terrorism in the guise of operating a religious school in Bangladesh.
A court in southern Bhola district accepted the report on last month's cache of arms recovered from a madrassa (religious school) and orphanage run by the Green Crescent charity, accusing its voluntary organisation head Faisal Mostafa and his 10 Bangladeshi associates.
A British national of Bangladeshi origin, Faisal was arrested in Dhaka on April 6, nearly two weeks after security forces seized a cache of arms from the Green Crescent Madrassa and Orphanage located in a remote sub-district of Bhola, an island in the Bay of Bengal.
Investigators determined that Faisal had been involved in amassing arms and ammunition at the school and in supporting terrorism, according to a report submitted by police to a magistrate's court.
The formal announcement of Faisal's arrest came 11 days after his family claimed the head of the London-based charity was detained by police on March 25, a day after the arms cache was seized at the religious school.
Four suspected militants were arrested from the institution at that time, while other suspected militants were detained later.
The Awami League-led alliance government of Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina Wazed earlier accused some non-governmental organisations of funding militancy in Bangladesh.
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