Bangladeshis Protest against Israeli 'Atrocities'

Published October 13th, 2000 - 03:00 GMT

Several hundred Bangladeshis demonstrated in Dhaka on Friday to protest alleged Israeli atrocities against Palestinians in the Middle East.

Members of the fundamentalist Jamaat-e-Islami party and the Islamic Constitutional Movement marched on the streets of the capital following Friday's mass prayer, shouting slogans against Israel and the US.

As part of their protests, they burnt an Israeli flag in downtown Dhaka's Purana Paltan area.

But no violence was reported by police.

Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina Wajed's government earlier this week condemned the Israeli "atrocities" in Jerusalem and other occupied territories.

"It is unfortunate that these activities have been undertaken at a time when the peace process in the Middle-East had reached a crucial stage," a foreign ministry spokesman said, reiterating Dhaka's "unreserved and unswerving support" to the Palestinians' "inalienable right to establish an independent state with Jerusalem as its capital."

Nearly two weeks of violence in the Middle East has so far claimed more than 100 lives, leaving a peace initiative hanging by a thread.

Diplomatic hopes to defuse the crisis are pinned on a summit that could take place in Egypt as early as Saturday - DHAKA (AFP)