DHAKA: A militant sentenced to death for his role in a deadly campaign to impose Islamic law in Bangladesh has asked for mercy, days ahead of an appeal deadline, an official said on Wednesday.

Iftekhar Hasan Al Mamun killed two judges last November when he hurled a bomb at their minibus. Another explosive strapped to him failed to detonate.

The would-be suicide bomber was sentenced in May to hang for the killings along with the two top leaders and four other members of the banned Jamayetul Mujahideen Bangladesh (JMB).

The group has been blamed for a string of blasts that killed at least 28 people as part of its campaign to install Islamic law in the country. Targets included court, police and government buildings.

All the convicts have until Saturday to appeal against their sentences. But JMB’s two most senior leaders, Shaikh Abdur Rahman, and his second-in-command, Siddiqul Islam, have told officials they will not do so.

“Suicide bomber Iftekhar Hasan Al Mamun has appealed against the High Court verdict confirming his death sentence,” deputy attorney general Helal Uddin Mollah told AFP.

The chief justice would fix a date for the appeal before the end of October, he added.

During his trial Rahman said he did not recognise the court and would not appeal against any sentence.

“The judges were murdered at the instruction of Allah. We should be rewarded, not punished, for following the order of killing judges,” he declared.

The bombing campaign began in August 2005 when over 400 small bombs exploded within an hour in almost every town and city in the country.

The blasts rocked the nation and prompted the government to say it had underestimated the threat posed by Islamic extremists.

Prime Minister Khaleda Zia vowed to root out and punish the militants.

Brigadier General Zakir Hassan, the inspector-general of prisons, said earlier this week the sentences of those who did not appeal could be carried out as early as October 19.—AFP