Dhaka, Mar 29: Police were on alert today as an Islamist group prepared to march to the guarded diplomatic areas in the Bangladeshi capital Dhaka.
Security was further tightened today as some 2,000 members of the 'Islamic Shashantantro Andolon' slowly gathered in Dhaka's Malibagh area for the march, police and witnesses said.
Yesterday, Dhaka turned into a city of anti-war demonstrations as 10,000 mostly Muslim protesters took to the streets calling for an end to the Iraq conflict.
People joined demonstrations after weekly mass prayers yesterday and torched a large number of effigies of US President George W. Bush and British Prime Minister Tony Blair, witnesses said.
No violence was reported at the protests.



As the Iraq war continues anti-war demonstrations have mounted in Bangladesh, the world's third largest Muslim-majority country, which has repeatedly called for a peaceful resolution to the crisis under the United Nations.



It also urged the military forces in Iraq to maintain the sanctity of Muslim shrines during the conflict.



Bangladeshi Prime Minister Khaleda Zia this week called for an immediate end to the war in Iraq and "expressed her regret over the casualties of innocent civilians including children and women there."


Bureau Report