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| India-Pakistan | |
| British-run orphanage in Bangladesh 'is Islamist training camp': RAB | |
| 2009-03-25 | |
The arrests came after a raid yesterday on the Green Crescent madrassa and orphanage on the remote southern island of Bhola, Lt Col Munir Haque, an officer involved in the operation, told The Times. "We found small arms -- about nine or 10 in total -- plus equipment to make small arms, about 3,000 rounds of ammunition, two walkie-talkies, two remote control devices and four sets of army uniforms," he said. "We also found enough explosives and other equipment to make several hundred grenades. We found some ordinary Islamic books, but others that are in line with extremists like bin Laden." He said that there were about 11 children between the ages of 7 and 8 at the compound at the time of the raid, but no other adults. Locals told the officers that the madrassa, or Islamic seminary, was a British charity financed by "Faisal", who they said had lived in Britain for 25 years. Green Crescent's web site, www.greencrescent.org, shows that it is involved in projects in Bhola, as well as several others around Bangladesh and at least one in Pakistan. The charity, which is registered in the UK under the number 1099233, was founded in 1998 by students in Britain and Bangladesh, and is based in Stockport, six miles from Manchester. K.M. Mamunur Rashid, another officer involved in the raid, said that the charity had plans to build two more madrassas, although there were no details on the charity's site. "It is a big madrassa and we have so far gathered that this whole compound is being used for militant training," he said. Bangladeshi media reported that security forces suspected the compound was being used by Jamaat-ul-Mujahideen Bangladesh (JMB), a banned militant group. The authorities have long viewed madrassas as potential recruiting grounds for militant groups such as JMB, which was blamed for a series of bomb attacks in the country in August 2005. | |
| Posted by:tipper |
| #4 They had great expectations for those cute li'l tykes... |
| Posted by: Seafarious 2009-03-25 15:37 |
| #3 An British orphanage run by Faisal and funded by the Green Crescent? Reminds me of Dickens - and Oliver, call me Mohamet, Twist. Oh, the sweet spirituality of it all. |
| Posted by: Halliburton - Mysterious Conspiracy Division 2009-03-25 15:28 |
| #2 Let the police escort several Inland Revenuers, to go over the books with the help of the charity managers. |
| Posted by: trailing wife 2009-03-25 13:46 |
| #1 ...was founded in 1998 by students in Britain and Bangladesh, and is based in Stockport, six miles from Manchester. Perhaps the Stockport cops might wanna drop by and say "hi" maybe? |
| Posted by: tu3031 2009-03-25 12:45 |