Monday, August 22 2005 20:15 Hrs (IST) - World Time -

Dhaka: Bangladesh has said it will not hesitate to seek foreign assistance to probe the serial bomb blasts which rocked the country last week as investigators tried to decipher a telephone conversation in Arabic mixed with Bangla for clues.

"The Government will not hesitate to take foreign intelligence help, if needed, to unearth the incident," Foreign Minister Morshed Khan told reporters in Dhaka yesterday (Aug 21, 2005).

Asked if he admitted the failure of the country's intelligence agencies, he said, "I cannot say they were successful."

Meanwhile, investigators were trying to decipher a telephone conversation in Arabic mixed with Bangla tapped on Saturday for any clues to the serial blasts, which killed two and injured more than 100 across 63 districts in the country.

Intelligence sources told the 'Daily Star' that in the conversation "Two men were talking in Arabic interspersed with Bangla which seems pretty suspicious."

The country has stepped up hunt for Sheikh Abdur Rahman, the suspected mastermind of the serial blasts and Sddiqur Rahman alias 'Bangla Bhai.'

Police have arrested more than 130 people and many of them have confessed that they were members of the banned Jama'atul Mujahideen Bangladesh (JMB) outfit and Abdur Rahman was their leader, security sources said.