DHAKA, Bangladesh — An Islamist political party has vowed to deepen the role of Islam in Bangladesh to avenge the execution of a party leader who was hanged for war crimes committed during the country's 1971 war of independence against Pakistan.
Abdul Quader Mollah, 65, was hanged Thursday night in a case that has exacerbated the explosive political divide in Bangladesh, an impoverished country of 160 million. Mollah was a leader of the party, Jamaat-e-Islami, and a key member of the opposition.
Opponents of Jamaat-e-Islami said that it is a fundamentalist group with no place in a secular country. Bangladesh is predominantly Muslim, but is governed by largely secular laws based on British common law.
The execution sparked violent protests Friday as activists torched homes and businesses belonging to government supporters in a fresh wave of bloodshed ahead of elections next month. At least five people died in the violence.
Meanwhile, hundreds of people rejoiced in the streets of the capital, Dhaka, and said justice had been served.
In an editorial, Bangladesh's English-language Daily Star newspaper congratulated Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina for trying and executing Mollah ''40 long years'' after he committed his crimes.
A Jamaat-e-Islami leader, Makbul Ahmed, said that ''people would take revenge on this killing by establishing Islam in Bangladesh.''
''I urge all the people who support the cause of the Islamic movement to show utmost patience to build a strong resistance,'' Ahmed said.
Jamaat-e-Islami said Mollah's trial was politically motivated and an attempt to eliminate Islamic parties.