Monday, November 28 2005 11:48 Hrs (IST) - World Time -

Dhaka: A man claiming himself to be a member of al-Qaeda network sent a faxed message threatening to blow up British, US and other Western missions in Bangladesh, prompting authorities to beef up security in the government secretariat and diplomatic areas, police said today (Nov 28, 2005).

Officials said 185 members of the Armed Police Battalion were deployed at the government secretariat complex and more would be added in phases along with existing security measures amid regular threats from banned Islamic militant groups.

Police confirmed that foreign missions received a threat yesterday to bomb them, but gave no other details as the media reported that a man claiming himself to be a member of the al-Qaeda network threatened to blow up some Western missions in Dhaka, including the US, British and members of the EU.

Identifying himself as Manik Hossain, the man faxed the threatening note to the British High Commission in Dhaka, the Daily Star newspaper said. The high commission filed a general diary with police, it added.

A police officer was quoted as saying that it might be a hoax, but security measures were further upped in the diplomatic areas.