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Pakistan shows concern at Bangladesh's executions

Xinhua, November 22, 2015 Adjust font size:

Pakistan on Sunday expressed deep concerns at the executions of two opposition leaders over alleged war crimes during the country's war of independence in 1971.

Ali Ahsan Mohammad Mujahid, secretary general of Bangladesh Jamaat-e-Islami party, and Salauddin Quader Chowdhury, a leader of Bangladesh Nationalist Party (BNP), were hanged in a jail in the capital Dhaka on Saturday.

"We have noted with deep concern and anguish the unfortunate executions of the Bangladesh National Party leader, Mr. Salauddin Quadir Chowdhury and Mr. Ali Ahsan Mojaheed. Pakistan is deeply disturbed at this development," the Pakistani Foreign Ministry said.

A Foreign Ministry statement said there is a need for reconciliation in Bangladesh in accordance with the spirit of Pakistan, India, Bangladesh Agreement of April 9, 1974.

"The Agreement calls for a forward looking approach in matters relating to 1971. This would foster goodwill and harmony," the statement said.

The Foreign Ministry said that Pakistan has also noted the international community's reaction to the "flawed trials in Bangladesh related to events of 1971."

Bangladesh's war crimes tribunals found the leaders guilty of collaborating with Pakistani forces and committing war crimes, including mass killings.

This was the first time that the country executed a member of the parliament who is the leader of the BNP headed by ex-prime minister Khaleda Zia, a rival of Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina.

After returning to power in January 2009, Prime Minister Hasina, the daughter of Bangladesh's independence hero Sheikh Mujibur Rahman, established the first tribunal in March 2010, almost 40 years after the 1971 fight for independence from Pakistan.

Reports suggest that a four-member Appellate Division bench of the Bangladesh Supreme Court on Wednesday dismissed the review petitions of Mujahid and Chowdhury, who is a member of BNP's Standing Committee, the highest policy-making body of the party. Endit