Two Muslim militants have been sentenced to death in Bangladesh for the murder of a Christian convert in the northern town of Jamalpur.

|PIC1|Police have reported that the death sentence has been given to Hafez Mahmud and Mohammad Salauddin, who are both leading figures in the banned Muslim militant group, Jamaatul Mujahideen Bangladesh (JMB).

The two men were sentenced by a fast-track court in the capital Dhaka. In his verdict, the judge said the two slaughtered the Christian convert, Abdul Gani Gomes, in a pre-planned manner.

They reportedly confessed to killing Gomes two years ago because he had converted to Christianity from Islam more than 15 years ago.

Gomes, a chemist, was returning home from work when four militants including the two convicted men, killed him in September 2004. The two other attackers are still on the run. Gomes is said to have angered the militants because of his evangelical activities.

The court heard that Mahmud and Salauddin are members of the JMB's top decision-making body. They were arrested following a nationwide crackdown on Muslim militants last year, after the JMB was blamed for a series of nationwide blasts on 17 August 2005.

Nearly 500 bombs went off in all but one of Bangladesh's 64 districts, and at least two people were killed, with many more injured.

The authorities say the JMB carried out the attacks because they wanted a more hardline Islamic administration.