Bangladesh arrests Dutch 'leader' of Myanmar separatists

Rannin Soe is an alleged leader of the Arakan Army, which has been fighting for an independent homeland in Myanmar's Rakhine state.

Dhaka:Bangladesh security forces said on Thursday they have arrested a Dutch national suspected of leading a group of Myanmar separatists that attacked Bangladeshi border forces in August.

Rannin Soe is an alleged leader of the Arakan Army, which has been fighting for an independent homeland in Myanmar's Rakhine state.

Bangladesh launched a huge man-hunt for the 47-year-old after the attack on its border forces in the Chittagong Hills in the south-east of the country, near Myanmar.

"Soe is a Myanmar-origin Dutch national and a leader of the Arakan Army," local police chief Ohidullah Sarker told AFP.

"He had been on the run since the attack on a patrol team of Border Guard of Bangladesh."

Police arrested him on Wednesday after they found his Dutch passport, identity card and fatigues of the Arakan Army at a hideout.

"He has told us that he is a doctor who studied in Yangon," Sarker said, adding that Soe had been in Bangladesh since 2010. 

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