Dhaka - Bangladesh's Foreign Minister Dipu Moni on Saturday described her country as secular with a majority Muslim population, and not a moderate Muslim state as portrayed by the international community. "Bangladesh is a non-communal country where the majority of the people belongs to the Muslim faith. We achieved our independence through an armed struggle with a dream of establishing a secular nation," the minister told reporters after delivering a lecture in Dhaka on Bangladesh's foreign policy.

Dhaka - A group of Islamists demanded Saturday that the secular law minister of Bangladesh's three-month old coalition government should resign after his reported comments that Quami Madrashas (Islamic schools) were breeding militants. "We want the minister to resign immediately, otherwise we will continue with regular protests until our demands are met," Fazlul Haq Amini, head of Islamic Law Committee formed by an alliance of radical Islamists, told a press conference.

Dhaka - Russia on Wednesday offered to help Bangladesh set up hydroelectric units using river currents to ease the country's severe power crisis, an official said.

"By constructing low-height dams on rivers, it is possible to establish a number of small power plants with 10- to 20-megawatt generation in Bangladesh," Russian Ambassador Gennady P Trotsenko said after meeting with Bangladesh officials.

The envoy said a Russian delegation would visit Dhaka next month for a feasibility study of a pilot project using river currents.

Dhaka - Bangladesh's Awami League-led government Wednesday cancelled the lease of a residence in Dhaka awarded to former premier Khaleda Zia 27 years ago as widow of slain president Ziaur Rahman, officials said.

A weekly meeting of Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina Wazed's cabinet decided to cancel the lease of one of the two homes awarded to Zia following the assassination of her husband Rahman, an army chief-turned-president of the country.

President Rahman was assassinated in a military coup on May 30, 1981.

Dhaka  - Bangladesh may request the International Criminal Court to put on trial Pakistani forces for alleged war crimes, a top official said Tuesday.

"We will take the matter to the International Criminal Court and seek the trial of the members of the Pakistani occupation forces who committed crimes against humanity during our liberation war," State Minister for Liberation War Affairs, AB Tajul Islam, told German Press Agency dpa.

Dhaka - Security forces arrested the chief of a British charity Monday for suspected terrorism financing under the guise of operating religious schools in southern Bangladesh, officials said.

A pre-dawn police raid arrested Faisal Mustafa, the head of Green Crescent charity, from central Gazipur district, senior officer Rezanur Rahman told a press conference.