DUYANIPUR, Bangladesh — A court in Bangladesh has sentenced two Islamic extremists to death for murdering Abdul Gani Gomes, a Christian convert from Islam, in September 2004. Gomes, 48, was returning from work in the northern town of Duyanipur in Jamalpur district when four militants, including the two convicted men, jumped him and, in their words, "hacked him to death."
Hafez Mahmud and Mohammad Salauddin are leading figures in the banned Islamic militant group Jamaatul Mujahideen Bangladesh (JMB), according to a BBC report. Both men confessed to killing Gomes on the orders of JMB leader Shaikh Abdur Rahman. JMB members said they resented Gomes because he had encouraged Muslims to convert to Christianity. "I am happy that I killed him," Salauddin reportedly said as he emerged from the courtroom. The verdict was given Nov. 9. Mahmud and Salauddin had until Dec. 9 to appeal it.
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