DHAKA, Sept. 3 (Xinhuanet) -- The Aug. 17 countrywide blasts were planned in mid-April while Kuwait-based organization Revival of Islamic Heritage Society (RIHS) and an imam of a UK mosque funded the terrorist operation, The Daily Star reported on Saturday.

    A series of bombs blasted in capital Dhaka and 63 out of 64 districts in Bangladesh on Aug.17, killing two and injuring at least 150 persons.

    A top official of the Special Branch of police seeking anonymity was quoted by the daily as saying that some important meetings preparatory to the explosions were held in different parts of the country at different times between mid-April and mid-August.

    The official tasked with probing the blast incident also said the decision on the blasts was finalized after Moulana Ataur Rahman, imam of a mosque in Britain and also the director of Ahle Hadith Library and Information Center at Nagheshwari in northwestern Kurigram district, came to Bangladesh on April 17. Heleft the country on Aug. 20.

    Soon after returning home, Ataur had had meetings with Abdur Rahman, chief of banned Jamaatul Mujahideen Bangladesh (JMB), and Siddiqul Islam alias Bangla Bhai, operations commander of Jagrata Muslim Janata Bangladesh (JMJB), the daily reported.

    The investigators have obtained the information from three suspects held in Kurigram district.

    "We are looking into the statements. These are very vital clues," the official was quoted as saying. "We are trying to arrest Abdul Malek, the man who looks after the Ahle Hadith's informationcentre at Nagheshwari in absence of Ataur. He may give us some significant leads to the investigation," he said.

    He said Kuwait-based NGO RIHS was one of the key sources of funds needed for staging the near-simultaneous explosions across the country.

    Recently, the intelligence agencies have recommended banning RIHS for financing the Islamist militants in the country.

    In a report prepared to suggest ways and means to root out militancy, the agencies have advised the government to close down the organization, as it seems to be more concerned with promoting militancy than protecting Islamic heritage, the daily quoted an intelligence source as saying.

    The agencies found that the NGO, also known as Jomiatul Ehya-utTuraj, had been accused of rearing Islamist extremists also in Pakistan and Afghanistan. It provided funds to Tawhid Trust and Hadith Foundation, both legally and illegally. Both the recipient organizations were founded by militant kingpin Asadullah Al Galib,the daily said.

    Intelligence men said Galib, now in jail, and his organization Ahle Hadith Andolon Bangladesh (Ahab) had been channeling funds toJMB, blamed for the Aug.17 blitz. Enditem