DHAKA, Oct 17: Two Bangladeshi Islamic militants have confessed to carrying out a 2004 grenade attack on Britain’s ambassador to Dhaka to avenge the death of Muslims in Iraq, an official said on Tuesday.

District court official Mohidur Rahman said the pair said in a statement presented to a court in the north-eastern city of Sylhet on Monday that they had tried to kill British High Commissioner Anwar Choudhury.

“Anwar Choudhury is an envoy of the British government which clings to the apron strings of America in killing Muslims all over the world. We wanted to show that we can kill the Muslim killers,” Rahman quoted the confession as saying.

“Britain and America blitzed Iraq with all-out attack. To take revenge... we wanted to kill the British High Commissioner,” the statement added.

Choudhury, who is still Britain’s ambassador to Dhaka, was slightly injured in the attack, which killed three people and left at least 50 others injured.

The Bangladeshi-born diplomat, who moved to Britain as a child, was on his first return visit to his home district of Sylhet after taking up his appointment in May 2004.

Mohammed Shahedul Alam, alias Bipul, 33, and Mohammed Delwar Hossen, alias Ripon, 32, were arrested along with two others in early September. All four remain in police custody.

Rahman said the men also stated that they carried out the attack on the orders of Mufti Abdul Hannan, head of the Bangladesh chapter of the banned Harkat-ul Jihad al Islami.—AFP