A series of three small explosions were reported in Bangladesh a few days ago. Below is a comparison of how one regional source describes the story and how it morphs (via Reuters) for a Western CNN audience.



The mysterious Bangladesh blasts
B Raman, Rediff News India, May 03, 2007

There were three timed explosions of very low intensity at the railway stations of Dhaka, Sylhet and Chittagong in Bangladesh early in the morning of May 1, 2007.

The first explosion took place at 6:50 am in front of the ticket counters at the Kamalapur railway station in Dhaka. At that time, the communications secretary of the government, Dr Mahbubur Rahman, was attending the inauguration of Rail Service Week 2007 at the railway station auditorium. There were no casualties. Explosives experts seized two pencil batteries, pieces of a bag in which the bomb was probably kept and torn papers from the spot.

This was followed by an explosion on the Chittagong railway station platform at 7:10 am injuring a rickshaw-puller. According to the local police, an unidentified person gave a bag to a woman beggar, and left hastily saying it contained some breakfast. She sought the help of the rickshaw-puller to open the bag and take out the breakfast. As he tried to do so, he was injured by a minor explosion. The police recovered some Scotch tape, the broken remains of a clock and torn papers from the scene.

The third explosion took place at 7:20 am on the platform of the Sylhet railway station. There were no casualties. The explosive device had apparently been kept under a fixed steel chair. Some torn papers and a small residue of explosives were found at the blast spot.

Round aluminium plates covered with old newspapers were found near the blast sites at Dhaka and Sylhet, but not at Chittagong. The plates carried the following inscription:

'The Kadiyanis (Ahmediyas) and NGOs prepare for death. It is haram (prohibited) to work in NGOs and having relation with the Kadiyanis. All must quit NGO jobs by May 10, all Kadiyanis must recognise Prophet Mohammad as the last and best prophet and if you fail to do it before the aforesaid time, your death is a must -- Zadid al Qaeda, Bangladesh.'

Zadid Al Qaeda can be translated either as 'New Al Qaeda' or as 'Cell of Al Qaeda'.

The fact that the three blasts took place in a co-ordinated manner in three different cities -- all in railway property -- would rule out the possibility of these explosions being the work of individual elements with no organisational affiliation. The initial indications are that the blasts were planned and carried out by an organisation in order to draw attention to its capability to organise such explosions, while at the same time taking care not to cause human casualties or serious property damage.

The message left behind is Islamic. The warning is addressed not to the government or the army, which is seen as the real power behind the present caretaker government headed by Dr Fakhruddin Ahmed, but to the Ahmediyas and the staff of non-governmental organisations, NGOs. The Ahmediyas and the NGOs -- particularly the foreign NGOS -- have been the targets of all fundamentalist and pro-Al Qaeda jihadi organisations of Bangladesh for many years. The demands are, therefore, not new.

The messages mention May 10, 2007, as the deadline by which these two demands should be met. The initial 120 days of the State of Emergency proclaimed on January 11, 2007, expire on May 10 and it is widely expected that the army, which is back-seat driving the present government with a civilian facade, would have it extended for which there is a provision in the constitution of the country. It is not clear whether the perpetrators of the blasts chose the May 10 deadline having this in mind or whether the two are not connected.

The present rulers of the country-- a group of civilians orchestrated by the army from behind the scene -- have been making overtures not only to the US and the European Union countries, but also to India of their goodwill towards them and of their intention to hold the general election before the end of next year after acting against widespread political corruption and preparing the ground for a genuinely free and fair election.

Bangladesh railway blasts signed 'al Qaeda'
CNN, May 1, 2007 4:03 a.m.

Three simultaneous bomb blasts rocked separate railway terminals in Bangladesh on Tuesday, with militant slogans claiming to be from al Qaeda found at two of the sites.

One man was hurt in the blasts, which triggered panic among commuters, who evacuated railway terminals.

Thin metal sheets scribbled with slogans were found at the bomb sites in Dhaka's Kamalapur and Sylhet terminals. The third blast was in the railway terminal of the southeastern city of Chittagong.

"... If Hazrat (Prophet) Mohammad is not declared the superman of the world by May 10, all non-governmental organizations will be blown up," the slogans on the metal sheets read in the Bengali language. They were signed "the al Qaeda network" in English.

"The bombs were kept in cotton sacks, along with the metal sheets. They exploded before anyone detected them," said police Inspector Abu Zafar Alam at Kamalapur, Bangladesh's biggest railway terminal.

"We are puzzled over the motives (of those who planted the bombs). But they dared to take the risk," said another police officer.

No one has been arrested, nor could police immediately confirm any Al Qaeda link to the blasts.

Police said Munir Hossain, a rickshaw-puller, was injured at the Chittagong terminal when he tried to open one of the sacks before it exploded.

The outlawed Islamist group, Jamaat-ul-Mujahedeen, carried out a series of bomb blasts across Bangladesh on August 17, 2005, killing three people and injuring more than 100.

In more attacks through the rest of 2005, the Jamaat-ul-Mujahedeen and another outlawed group, Jagrata Muslim Janata Bangladesh, killed nearly 30 more people and wounded 150, including judges, lawyers, police and officials.

Six leaders from the two groups were executed on March 30 for their role in the blasts.

Many commuters fled the terminals, too scared to board trains.

"I am afraid to take on the journey. There may be more bombs around," said Didarul Alam, a bank official waiting to board a train to Chittagong. "They have spoiled my holiday."

Many Bangladeshis were traveling out of Dhaka taking advantage of a two-day public holiday for May Day and a Buddhist religious festival on Wednesday.

Security has been tightened across the country, police said.

Intelligence groups last month alerted the government that Islamist militants were regrouping after the execution of the militant leaders.

"This (Tuesday's blasts) proved they are still active and dared to show their teeth," said one security official who asked not to be named.

The army-backed interim government has imposed a state of emergency in January following deadly political violence that forced the authorities to suspend a scheduled national election.

Tuesday's blasts occurred almost simultaneously around 7:30 a.m. (0130 GMT), police said.