Al-Qaeda Takes Credit For Gruesome Murder Of Gay Bangladeshi Activist

Xulhaz Mannan was hacked to death in his apartment .
From: NewNowNext

Ansar-al Islam, the Bangladeshi branch of al-Qaeda, claimed responsibility for the hacking death of Bangladeshi LGBT activist Xulhaz Mannan on April 26th, calling the brutal murder a “blessed attack” in an announcement posted to Twitter.

Mannan and a friend who was also killed in the attack were tailed by al-Qaeda operatives in the days before their slayings because they were “pioneers of practicing and promoting homosexuality,” according to The AP.

Mannan, the editor of Bangladesh’s first gay rights magazine, Roopbaan, wrote unapologetically about his experience being openly gay in the country to give a voice to its small and closeted LGBT population.

The AP reports:

Mannan had written openly about the frustration of living “in the closet” as a gay man in Bangladesh, where homosexual relations are considered a crime. In a May 2014 blog, he said gays and lesbians in Bangladesh experience “A country where the predominant religions say you are a sinner, the law of the land says you are a criminal, the social norms say you are a pervert, the culture considers you as imported.”

Earlier this month, Mannan even tried to organize a gay rights rally in the capital before he and three others were briefly detained by police.

Homosexuality is illegal in Bangladesh but pressure from officials abroad has forced the government to investigate the murders closely.

On April 28th, Secretary of State John Kerry placed a call to Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina to offer U.S. support for an investigation.

“The secretary urged Prime Minister Hasina to ensure a thorough investigation of all of these incidents, and to redouble law enforcement efforts to prevent future attacks and protect those who are at risk,” the State Department said in a statement.

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Bangladesh Police Arrest Suspect In Murder Of LGBT Editor Xulhaz Mannan

The victim was the editor of Bangladesh's first LGBT magazine.

From: NewNowNext

Police have arrested one of the suspected killers in last month’s gruesome murder of magazine editor Xulhaz Mannan.

The 35-year-old, who was the editor of Bangladesh’s first gay and lesbian magazine, Roopbaan, was found shot and hacked to death in Dhaka in April, alongside his 25-year-old friend, Mahbub Tonoy.

Both men worked for the government aid organization USAID, and helped organize the Rainbow Rally on Bengali New Year.

Police have now arrested Islamic militant Shariful Islam Shihab, believing that he is one of the six men who killed Mannan and Tonoy with machetes and guns.

Shihab is believed to be a member of Harkatul Jihad, a radical Islamist group that is actually banned in Bangladesh.

Islam reportedly said that Shihab allegedly killed Mannan because he was a gay rights activist and helped the gay community through his work at the magazine.