Bangladesh politician sentenced to life for war crimes

DHAKA (AFP) - A Bangladeshi court sentenced a senior Islamist opposition official to life in prison on Tuesday for mass murder and crimes against humanity during the 1971 liberation war against Pakistan.

Abdul Quader Molla, 64, the fourth highest ranked leader of the Jamaat-e-Islami party, is the first politician to be found guilty by the International Crimes Tribunal, a much-criticised domestic court based in Dhaka.

Molla cried "Allahu Akbar" (God is greater) and said all the charges were false after the presiding judge Obaidul Hassan delivered the verdict in a crowded court, blanketed with heavy security.

The judgement sparked protests by Jamaat, the country's largest Islamic party which enforced a nationwide strike Tuesday in anticipation of the conviction. It warned it would resist "at any cost a government blueprint" to execute its leaders.