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       Bangladesh urges Pakistan apology for 1971 ‘crimes’

Bangladesh's Foreign Minister Dipu Moni speaking at a news conference in Dhaka. –Reuters Photo

DHAKA: Bangladesh on Wednesday urged Pakistan to apologise formally for alleged atrocities committed by its army during Bangladesh’s bloody liberation struggle in 1971.

Bangladeshi officials have said three million people were killed during the fight for independence for what was then East Pakistan, and the new government in Dhaka has vowed to try suspected war criminals.

In a meeting with Pakistan’s High Commissioner on Wednesday, Foreign Minister Dipu Moni raised the issue of ‘seeking formal apologies by Pakistan for the genocide in 1971,’ a written statement said.

A Pakistani envoy told Bangladesh in February to let ‘bygones be bygones’ and rejected plans to try those accused of murder, rape and arson.

A private Dhaka-based group that has investigated the conflict has named 1,775 people, including Pakistani generals and local militants allied with Pakistan, as war crime suspects.
 Dawn :Wednesday, 13 May,2009