Awami League leader Hassan Mahmud is certain that the audio message calling for jihad in Bangladesh has been issued by Al-Qaeda chief Ayman al-Zawahiri.
He told the press on Tuesday that the audio clip had been was uploaded on the Internet from Arizona, in the United States.
The message, claimed to be that of Zawahiri and uploaded with his photo, questioned the creation of Bangladesh and called on the country’s Muslims to wage a battle against ‘anti-Islamist conspiracies’.
Several ruling party MPs reacted sharply in Parliament over the al-Qaeda message following media reports on Saturday.
They claimed that the BNP and Jamaat-e-Islami had links with al-Qaeda.
Reacting to the remarks, BNP acting Secretary General Mirza Fakhrul Islam Alamgir said at a press conference on Monday that the Awami League was plotting to get the international community and the US, in particular, on its side by making out Bangladesh to be a ‘failed state’ affected by militancy and fundamentalism.
Hassan Mahmud on Tuesday rebutted the Fakhrul’s allegation, saying the BNP and Jamaat were trying to destabilise the country by joining hands with al-Qaeda.
“The BNP and Jamaat are carrying on violent activities… We believe they have links with al-Qaeda as there are similarities between the statements of Zawahiri and the BNP.”
Criticising Fakhrul for his statement involving the US, Mahmud said: “Instead of doing some self-criticism, the BNP is casting aspersions on Bangladesh’s relation with the friendly country.”
“Awami League’s relation with the country is very deep and friendly. The two countries are working together to fight militancy,” he said.
Asked about the source of the audio clip, the Awami League leader said: “As far as I know, the audio message was uploaded from Arizona in the US. I think Zawahiri has given it.”
He claimed that many top leaders of the BNP-led 19-Party Alliance had been trained by al-Qaeda.
He said the government would continue taking tough measures to fight militancy.
About Fakhrul’s doubt about the Upazila elections, beginning on Wednesday, being fair, Mahmud said: “Mr Fakhrul is giving various statements to save his position (in the party).
Source: Bd news24