Bangladesh's government said it planned sweeping anti-terror legislation

Bangladesh's government said it planned sweeping anti-terror legislation authorising the death penalty to tackle Islamic militants, accusing them of undermining the foundations of the state. The announcement followed a series of blasts blamed on Islamic militants seeking to impose strict religious law in Muslim Bangladesh.
"We have prepared a draft of a comprehensive law to resist and tackle terrorism so that we can try and punish the terrorists promptly," Law Minister Moudud Ahmed told a news conference.
"Any person, group or organisation involved in militancy or found to have abetted or assisted terrorism, supplied equipment, funded or trained them (terrorists) will be tried under the new law," Ahmed said.
Existing laws such as the Explosive Substances Act were inadequate to tackle this "new dimension of terrorism," he said. Police had blamed the Jamayetul Mujahideen or Assembly of Holy Warriors for the nationwide violence that claimed 28 lives since August 2005.