Six die in Bangladesh bomb attack

By Dhaka correspondent David Chazan

Police in Bangladesh say at least six people have been killed and twelve injured in an attack on a mosque.

The grenade or bomb attack happened in the southern town of Khulna when about 100 people were attending Friday prayers.

The place of worship was used exclusively by the minority Ahmadiya community, who have been targeted by some fundamentalist groups among the country's majority Sunni Muslim community.

They have demanded the Ahmadiya community be declared non-Muslim because they believe Mohammed was not the last prophet of Islam.

The minority Ahmadiyas have suffered previous attacks but this one was particularly bloody.

In January an Ahmadiya mosque was torn down in Kushtia, also in southern Bangladesh, and several houses were burned.

Divergent Islamic beliefs

The Ahmadiyas say they are Muslims but differ from other Islamic groups in that they believe that the founder of their movement, Hazrat Mirza Ghulam Ahmed, was the messiah.

They also believe that Jesus did not die on the cross, but instead died of natural causes in Kashmir and is buried there.

Fewer than 100,000 Bangladeshis are estimated to belong to the sect.

They're unpopular in many parts of the country because of their unusual beliefs and police suspect that the attack was carried out by those who oppose the sect and believe it should be banned.

Ahmadiya leaders say the security forces have done little to protect their members from attack in the past. But this explosion is certain to embarrass the authorities at a time when they've promised to improve law and order.