Interpol issues 'red notice' against Bangladeshi politician

PARIS

Interpol have issued a "red notice" against a former Bangladeshi politician found guilty of war crimes committed during Bangladesh's war for independence in 1971. 

The notice was issued against 82-year-old Abdul Jabbar for involvement in looting, arson, murder and abduction as crimes against humanity. 

Jabbar was found guilty after being tried in absentia by the International Crimes Tribunal, a Bangladeshi court tasked with investigating war crimes committed in 1971, when up to 3 million people were killed according to official figures. 

Interpol stated that Jabbar, who has been sentenced to imprisonment until death, was thought to be staying in the United States. 

Jabbar had been a senior figure in the Jatiya party before later joining the main opposition Bangladesh Nationalist Party. 

Only two days earlier, Interpol issued a red notice against Tarique Rahman, 47, the senior vice-chairman of the Bangladesh Nationalist Party. 

Rahman, the son of the party's leader Khaleda Zia and former military ruler Ziaur Rahman, is wanted for his alleged involvement in a 2004 grenade attack on a rally of the currently ruling Awami League party.

The attack killed 24 people attending the rally, which was being addressed by the current Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina. 

Rahman has been staying in London, from where he remains heavily involved in party activities, but the Bangladeshi government has been seeking to bring him back to the country. 

An Interpol red notice, one of the Interpol’s eight types of notices, seeks "the location and arrest of wanted persons with a view to extradition or similar lawful action," according to the Interpol website.