BANGLADESH: Police Arrest Suspect In Terrorist Killing Of Gay Rights Activist Xulhaz Mannan

From the Associated Press:

Police in Bangladesh said Sunday that they have arrested a suspected Muslim militant for his alleged involvement in the killing last month of a gay rights activist and his friend in the capital.

Police identified the suspect as Shariful Islam Shihab, a former member of the banned Islamic group Harkatul Jihad. They said he joined another militant group, Ansarullah Bangla Team, in mid-2015.

Shihab, 37, was arrested in the southwestern district of Kushtia, Munirul Islam, head of a newly formed police counterterrorism unit, told a news conference. He did not give any further details.

Islam said that Shihab allegedly killed Xulhaz Mannan (top photo), who worked for the U.S. Agency for International Development, because he was a gay rights activist and promoted the gay community’s cause through a magazine as an editor.

The Bangladeshi branch of al-Qaida had claimed responsibility for the April 25 killing of Mannan and his friend, Tanay Majumder. Mannan was also a cousin of former Foreign Minister Dipu Moni of the governing Awami League party.

Mannan was also an organizer of a gay pride event that was banned by police. The murders were denounced by the State Department.

#Bangladesh police arrest Islamist militant over gruesome murder of LGBT activists #NIEUWS… https://t.co/gnItZ0oZsf pic.twitter.com/huDxfVTK55

— M2K ▪ (@i1440) May 15, 2016