Bangladesh police, Islamic activists clash; 27 die

DHAKA, Bangladesh (AP) — Police banned all rallies in Bangladesh's capital through midnight Monday after at least 27 people died in clashes between police and Islamic hardliners demanding that the government enact an anti-blasphemy law, officials said.

The protesters blocked roads with burning tires and logs during more than five hours of clashes. They also attacked a police station and set fire to at least 30 vehicles, including police trucks, private Ekattar TV reported.

A police official, speaking on customary condition of anonymity, said 13 people, including two police and a paramilitary soldier, were killed in clashes in Kanchpur just outside Dhaka. He said seven others died in Motijheel, a commercial area of the capital.

Police in southeastern Chittagong city fired on Islamic activists who attacked them with iron rods, meat cleavers and sticks. At least seven people were killed, police official Farid Uddin said.

The private United News of Bangladesh reported that the violence in Dhaka erupted after security forces fired tear gas and rubber bullets at protesters in the central commercial district.

Dhaka Metropolitan Police said all rallies and protests had been banned in the city until midnight Monday for fear of more clashes.

The Islamic activists have been holding protests to demand that the government implement an anti-blasphemy law. They say some Internet users have recently used their blogs to spread atheism and lies about Islam.

The government of the Muslim-majority nation has rejected the demand, insisting that Bangladesh is governed by secular law.

On Sunday, police fired rubber bullets to disperse stone-throwing activists who were among thousands who rallied around Dhaka. Officials said at least one person died and 45 others were injured.

The ruling Awami League and an opposition alliance had both planned rallies Monday in response to Sunday's violence but postponed their plans.

Bangladesh, an impoverished nation of 160 million people, has a history of political violence.

The opposition has sponsored a series of recent general strikes demanding that the next general election due in early 2014 be supervised by a neutral caretaker administration.

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Nigeria sets up Islamic extremist amnesty group

LAGOS, Nigeria (AP) — Nigeria formed a panel that will create an amnesty program for Islamic extremists to try to quell a bloody guerrilla campaign of bombings and shootings that's killed hundreds of people across its north, the government said Wednesday.

The 26-person panel, created by President Goodluck Jonathan, has a 60-day deadline to come up with an offer for militants belonging to the Islamic extremist network Boko Haram and other groups now fighting against government forces and killing civilians with apparent impunity. A similar program in 2009 worked to halt the majority of attacks by militants in Nigeria's oil-rich southern delta, though those fighting in the north have in the past rejected the idea of overtures from the government.

Problems with the committee, however, immediately became apparent after it was announced. At least one member said he hadn't been consulted before his name was released, and the list of panelists included no member of any armed insurgent group.

The presidential committee, including police and military officials, as well as politicians and human rights activists, would "constructively engage key members of Boko Haram and define a comprehensive and workable framework for resolving the crisis of insecurity in the country," according to a statement issued by presidential spokesman Reuben Abati. The committee also would offer a "comprehensive victims' support program," though the statement offered no further details about it.

The presidency said it hoped disarming Islamic extremists would happen within two months' time, an ambitious goal that likely will be extremely difficult. The command-and-control structure of the main extremist network Boko Haram remains unclear. It also has sparked several splinter groups, including those wanting to increasingly target Western interests and who have connections to other al-Qaida-linked groups.

Boko Haram's leader, Abubakar Shekau, also has repeatedly said he would refuse any amnesty offer. Shekau's past demands included the release of all the sect's imprisoned members and instituting Shariah law across all of Nigeria, a multiethnic nation of more than 160 million people.

The idea of an amnesty, discussed in some corners by analysts, came to a head in March when the Sultan of Sokoto, one of the country's top Muslim leaders, called for it. While the sultan did not speak in specifics, others have suggested offering an amnesty deal in line with one previously given to militants in Nigeria's oil-rich southern delta in 2009. That deal offered cash payments and job training to fighters in return for them giving up their weapons and halting attacks on foreign oil companies.

The 2009 amnesty deal, however, did not stop all attacks in the delta, nor did it halt the rapidly growing theft of crude oil from pipelines there that has caused serious environmental damage. The militants in the nation's largely Christian south also attacked the commodity that fills the nation's coffers while typically not killing civilians. Those extremists fighting in the nation's Muslim north have shown no hesitation to kill civilians and security forces alike, nor does their fighting affect oil production.

Until Wednesday, the sultan was the highest-ranking official so far to publicly endorse such a plan for Islamic extremists. However, his name was absent from the list of amnesty panel members. Included on the list was Datti Ahmed, a Kano physician who heads a prominent Muslim group, the Supreme Council for Shariah in Nigeria. However, Ahmed last year publicly backed away from the suggestion that he work as a mediator after the idea leaked out and local newspapers began to publish stories about him.

Ahmed also is a controversial figure in the north, as he sparked a boycott of polio vaccines in 2003 in Nigeria after saying the vaccines were "corrupted and tainted by evildoers from America and their Western allies." That led to hundreds of new infections in children in Nigeria's north, where the disease is still active today, as well as a global polio outbreak that reached as far as Indonesia.

Ahmed did not immediately respond to a request for comment Wednesday.

Another named panelist, Shehu Sani of the Kaduna-based Civil Rights Congress, told The Associated Press that Nigeria's government never consulted with him before publicly announcing his name. Sani said he would only serve as a member if Islamic extremists told him through an intermediary that they would consider an amnesty deal and would serve on the panel as well.

"In the absence of that, we would simply be doing something hoping it would work," Sani said. "And hope is not a strategy."

The Islamic insurgency in Nigeria grew out of a 2009 riot led by Boko Haram members in Maiduguri that ended in a military and police crackdown that killed some 700 people. The group's leader died in police custody in an apparent execution. From 2010 on, Islamic extremists have engaged in hit-and-run shootings and suicide bombings, attacks that have killed at least 1,548 people, according to an AP count.

Westerners in Nigeria have been targeted as well, including an August 2011 suicide bombing at the United Nations headquarters in Nigeria's capital, Abuja, that killed 25 and wounded more than 100 others. A group of men who said they belong to Boko Haram claimed responsibility for the kidnapping of seven French tourists from northern Cameroon late February — a first for the group. Meanwhile, a Boko Haram splinter group known as Ansaru has claimed the recent kidnappings and killings in northern Nigeria of seven foreigners — a British citizen, a Greek, an Italian, two Lebanese and two people believed to be Syrian — all employees of a Lebanese construction company called Setraco.

Despite the deployment of more soldiers and police to northern Nigeria, the nation's weak central government has been unable to stop the killings. Meanwhile, human rights groups and local citizens blame both Boko Haram and security forces for committing violent atrocities against the local civilian population, fueling rage in the region.

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Jon Gambrell can be reached at www.twitter.com/jongambrellAP.

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Radical Islamic group rejects Nigeria peace effort

LAGOS, Nigeria (AP) — The leader of the Islamic extremist network Boko Haram apparently has refused to take part in any possible amnesty deal offered by Nigeria's government to stop the guerrilla campaign of bombings and shootings now plaguing the country.

An audio recording obtained by The Associated Press on Thursday features a man who sounds like Abubakar Shekau strongly objecting to any possible deal with Nigerian officials. The comments come after Nigeria's government has floated the idea of possibly setting up a government committee to examine offering some sort of deal to stop the violence that's killed hundreds over the last year.

The recording, first passed by intermediaries of Boko Haram to journalists in northern Nigeria, features the man talking about the possibility of an amnesty deal, first discussed last week. The man in the recording, speaking in the Hausa language of Nigeria's predominantly Muslim north, calls the amnesty deal "surprising."

"We are the one to grant them pardon. Have you forgotten their atrocities against us?" he says.

Boko Haram, which sends messages through spokesmen and communiques at times of its choosing, could not be reached for comment Thursday.

The man in the recording later threatens the lives of anyone claiming to be a representative of Boko Haram saying the network wants to accept a peace deal. A self-proclaimed Boko Haram leader said he could offer a ceasefire in northeast Nigeria on behalf of the group in January, though the violence continued unstopped.

The idea of an amnesty, discussed in some corners by analysts, came to a head in March when the Sultan of Sokoto, one of the country's top Muslim leaders, called for it. While the sultan did not speak in specifics, others have suggested offering an amnesty deal in lines with one previously given to militants in Nigeria's oil-rich southern delta in 2009. That deal offered cash payments and job training to fighters in return for them giving up their weapons and halting attacks on foreign oil companies. The sultan is the highest ranking official so far to publicly endorse such a plan for Islamic extremists, many of whom fight as part of Boko Haram and its splinter groups.

The 2009 amnesty deal, however, did not stop attacks in the delta, nor halt the rapidly growing theft of crude oil from pipelines there that has caused serious environmental damage. The militants there also attacked the commodity that fills the nation's coffers while typically not killing civilians. Meanwhile, Boko Haram is blamed for killing at least 792 people last year alone, according to an AP count, and its attacks occur hundreds of miles away from the nearest oil well. So far this year, violence by Islamic extremists has killed at least 173 people, according to an AP count.

No Nigerian government officials have publicly said the government is creating a committee to study a possible amnesty deal for Islamic extremists, giving wiggle room to the administration of President Goodluck Jonathan for a possible denial later in case the idea is dropped. Jonathan, a Christian from the oil delta, has faced increasing public criticism for being unable to stop the killings.

Boko Haram says it is fighting to free its imprisoned members and install an Islamic government over Nigeria, a multiethnic nation of more than 160 million people. The group, whose name means "Western education is sacrilege," has conducted its guerrilla fight across Nigeria's north over the last three years. The group's command-and-control structure remains unclear, though it appears to have sparked several splinter groups.

A group of men who said they belong to Boko Haram claimed responsibility for the kidnapping of seven French tourists from northern Cameroon late February — a first for the group. Meanwhile, a Boko Haram splinter group known as Ansaru has claimed the recent kidnappings and killings in northern Nigeria of seven foreigners — a British citizen, a Greek, an Italian, three Lebanese and one Filipino — all employees of a Lebanese construction company called Setraco.

Despite the deployment of more soldiers and police to northern Nigeria, the nation's weak central government has been unable to stop the killings. Meanwhile, human rights groups and local citizens blame both Boko Haram and security forces for committing violent atrocities against the local civilian population, fueling rage in the region.

Early Thursday morning, suspected Islamic extremists attacked a police station in Babangida, a small town in Yobe state, Yobe state police commissioner Rufai Sunusi said. Sunusi said four of his officers died in the attack, while two others were wounded. Police killed five of the gunmen, he said.

After the attack, Yobe state's government announced a dusk-to-dawn curfew for its citizens.

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Associated Press writers Bashir Adigun in Abuja, Nigeria, and Mohammed Abubakar in Damaturu, Nigeria, contributed to this report.

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Jon Gambrell can be reached at www.twitter.com/jongambrellAP .

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US: Islamic extremists move between Nigeria, Mali

LAGOS, Nigeria (AP) — Islamic extremists continue to move freely between Nigeria and northern Mali, despite the ongoing French military operation there against them, the United States ambassador to Nigeria said Thursday.

As extremist shootings, bombings and kidnappings of foreigners continue unstopped across northern Nigeria, U.S. Ambassador Terence McCulley said halting the violence remained a top priority of the Washington government. However, McCulley declined to answer questions about U.S. plans to operate a drone base in neighboring Niger — which would allow the aircraft to monitor Nigeria as well.

Officials "have seen reports for years" about fighters from the radical Islamic extremist network Boko Haram traveling to Mali to receive training there, said McCulley, speaking to journalists on a telephone conference call. Boko Haram, the main force behind the continuing guerrilla attacks against Nigeria's weak central government, is believed by analysts and officials to have ties to al-Qaida in the Islamic Maghreb, which operates in Mali, and likely received training and weapons from them.

"The Nigerians feel that there is a link between extremist activity in the Sahel and their internal extremist insurgency," McCulley said. The ambassador said Nigeria needed to attack the group on multiple fronts, both militarily and by alleviating northern Nigeria's crushing poverty and lack of opportunities for its growing, young population.

McCulley also said Nigeria needed to "respect human rights" in fighting extremists. Human rights officials long have accused Nigeria's security forces of illegally detaining people for months without charges, using torture and even summarily killing suspects.

French troops, with the help of Malian soldiers, have been fighting Islamic extremists who took over the main towns in northern Mali in the weeks after a coup toppled the nation's government last year. Despite their efforts, it appears extremists continue to be able to simply disappear into local populations and move freely across the region, where desert borders remain loosely patrolled.

In part to stop that flow, U.S. President Barack Obama announced plans in February to establish a military base in neighboring Niger to stage drone flights across the Sahel region. While U.S. plans initially call for the drones to be used to gather information about Islamic extremists in Mali, the drones could be used elsewhere in the region. In Nigeria's predominantly Muslim north, there has been growing concern and suspicion about the U.S. intentions in the region, despite the ongoing violence.

When asked about the drones, McCulley largely declined to comment, though he said Nigeria's government has not posed any questions to the U.S. regarding the drone program.

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Jon Gambrell can be reached at www.twitter.com/jongambrellAP .

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Islamic rebels fire rockets at military in Mali

BAMAKO, Mali (AP) — Jihadist fighters fired two rockets at military points in Mali's northern city of Gao on Thursday after the military pushed fighters out of the city a day earlier and as a suicide bomber attacked secular rebels near Algeria's border, officials said.

Capt. Daouda Diarra said Thursday there was also shooting on the north side of the city.

He said the rockets were likely launched by the Movement for Oneness and Jihad in West Africa, or MUJAO.

"The jihadist have fired two rockets on us that we have recovered," Diarra said. "This is a small group and we will dislodge them and track the rest of the group who have fled 21 kilometers (13 miles) east of Gao on board seven vehicles."

Fighters with the al-Qaida-linked group had attacked a Gao checkpoint on Wednesday and fought with the military around the Town Hall in the city center on Thursday. Diarra said 16 jihadists were killed in the fighting and six soldiers were wounded.

Meanwhile, further north in Kidal, a suicide car bombing killed at least one secular Tuareg rebel, the mayor of Kidal said.

Abda Ag Kazina said that a suicide car bomber targeted a base for the secular National Movement for the Liberation of the Azawad, or NMLA, near the country's border with Algeria.

The Tuaregs and Islamic extremists made rapid advances on Mali's north in the aftermath of a March 2012 coup, seizing the main cities in the north. Poorly armed and demoralized Malian soldiers fled before their advance.

But the secular fighters fell out with the Islamist extremists. As the extremists have fled the French bombing campaign, it appears the NMLA fighters have moved back into some areas.

The jihadist group MUJAO claimed responsibility for another car explosion Thursday at a mechanics garage in Kidal about 800 meters (875 yards) from a French military base.

French and Chadian forces are patrolling the city of Kidal, though it remains unclear if the northern administrative capital is secure.

Radical Islamic fighters spent weeks on the run from Malian cities under a French ground and air assault that began Jan. 11 after the rebels had pushed to southern territories. The French, meanwhile, are tightening a dragnet against the al-Qaida-linked militants in one of their last remaining redoubts, mountain sanctuaries near Algeria's border.

France has said it will eventually pull out of its Mali operation so that African forces can help stabilize the West African country.

U.N. discussions about an African force for Mali have been under way for months, alongside efforts for a European Union training mission to help the Malian military.

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