What do you Learn In Madrassa---BBC Inside Story

UK 'concern' over Bangladesh arms

The British body responsible for overseeing charities says that it is "seriously concerned" over alleged UK links to an arms haul in Bangladesh.

The weapons cache was found in the south of the country at an Islamic school, or madrassa, allegedly run by a UK-based charity.

A spokesperson for the Charity Commission said they were investigating the "very serious" allegations.

Bangladeshi police say the arms were found in the coastal district of Bhola.

'Mini-ordnance factory'

They say that the arms cache - discovered earlier this week - included weapons, bomb-making equipment and bullets.

Police say that the madrassa is run by the Green Crescent charity based in England. No-one at the charity - based near Manchester - was available for comment on Wednesday.

"These reported activities said to be run under the auspices of a UK charity, Green Crescent Bangladesh UK, raise very serious concerns," the Charity Commission spokesperson said.

"Terrorist activity is clearly under no circumstances acceptable for a charity. We are actively examining the information available."

The commission's website said that in 2008, Green crescent had a turnover approaching £70,000 ($102,733).

Bangladeshi officials say that the madrassa is located on a remote river island only accessible through a drawbridge.

They have described the premises as a "mini-ordnance factory" and said the whole compound was being used for militant training.

A teacher and three employees at the madrassa were arrested on Tuesday, at a time of heightened tension in Bangladesh because of a mutiny last month by border guards which killed 74 people and which has been blamed by some in the government on Islamic militants.

The raid on the madrassa was carried out by the elite anti-crime force, the Rapid Action Battalion (RAB), who say they found found about 12 guns and several thousand bullets.

Police in Bhola say a leading member of the Jamayetul Mujahideen Bangladesh (JMB) extremist group was arrested in the raid along with three other people. They say that they also want to speak to the charity's UK-based owner, who is also believed to be in Bangladesh.

The JMB carried out a series of bombings across the country in 2005 and is blamed by some in the government for last month's mutiny by border guards in the capital, Dhaka.

Islamic law

Police say that booklets about jihad, or holy war, were found at the school, which correspondents say has a number of blind pupils.

A RAB spokesman, Mamunur Rashid, said that the school was opened a few months ago in a remote area of Bhola, about 100km (60 miles) south of Dhaka.

Bangladesh has in recent years been hit by a number of bomb attacks at political rallies, in courts and at cultural venues.

The attacks have mostly been blamed on JMB and other radical groups who are accused of wanting to establish strict Islamic law in a traditionally secular - but overwhelmingly Muslim - country.

Last week Finance Minister AMA Muhith said that the authorities would examine the activities and sources of funding of some Islamic charities approved by the previous alliance government - which contained two Islamic parties.