Bangladesh rebels say will lay down arms

DHAKA (Reuters) - Mutinous members of a Bangladesh paramilitary unit agreed to lay down their arms and accept an amnesty offered by the government, one of their officers said, after fighting over a pay dispute killed at least five people on Wednesday.

"We have agreed to surrender weapons following the assurances given by the premier to fulfill our demands," said the Bangladesh Rifles (BDR) officer, who asked not to be identified.

Heavy gunfire had broken out in the morning as enlisted men met with officers over a pay and command dispute at the BDR's Dhaka headquarters, security officials said, sending civilians fleeing and leading to a stand-off with troops and police.

Bangladesh, an impoverished South Asian country of more than 140 million, has experienced several successful and failed military coups in its history but Wednesday's fighting did not appear to be politically motivated.

Doctors at a Dhaka hospital said they had received the bodies of five people and had treated 15 others wounded by the fighting.

Commercial NTV television showed several bodies lying on the ground near the BDR complex and said as many as 12 people, mostly soldiers, may have been killed although there was no official confirmation of that number.

Police said they had recovered the bodies of two BDR troops from a canal near the unit's headquarters, although it was not clear how they died.

Bangladesh Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina, whose party won elections in December to take over from a military-backed interim government, met some of the BDR mutineers later on Wednesday in a bid to end the stand-off.

Government minister Jahangir Kabir Nanak told reporters Hasina made the offer of an amnesty for those involved during an hour-long meeting at her residence.

The BDR officer said those who had met with Hasina would go back to their headquarters with government representatives to and it was expected that all the rebellious troops would agree to surrender their weapons.

STRAY BULLETS

The shooting spilled over into the streets earlier on Wednesday and civilians were hit by stray bullets, witnesses said. Flames rose from the BDR complex and big blasts were heard. Thick smoke filled the surrounding area.

"They are firing rifles, machineguns, artillery and all sorts of weapons," one police officer near the scene said of the initial action.

Firing had subsided by late afternoon and the streets around the complex were deserted, witnesses said.

Over the course of the day army troops entered the headquarters and also took up positions nearby.

Around 2,000 BDR soldiers are usually stationed in the headquarters but it was not known how many joined in the fighting. About 500 army troops and hundreds of police and other security forces were deployed to face off the mutineers.

A commercial television station showed one masked rebel shouting from a window in the besieged complex. "We want BDR to be commanded by themselves, not by the army," the rebel shouted.

Bangladesh's powerful army supplies officers to command the paramilitary BDR troops.

"They apparently have nothing against this government but have (complaints) against the army, whose support is important for any government," said a government official, who asked not to be identified.

The BDR, whose main duty is guarding the country's borders, are often called in to back up the army and police in meeting other defense and security requirements.

The mutiny broke out even though Hasina met senior BDR officers at an annual parade on Tuesday and assured them her government would do its best to modernize the paramilitary and reward good performers.

After Hasina's landslide election win, political analysts and diplomats hoped the country would move toward the stability needed to attract foreign investment after a long record of political violence.

Government officials said the uprising could lead to serious consequences unless resolved quickly. They denied the mutiny was a coup attempt.

A defense analyst told Reuters: "Intelligence agencies must intensify their efforts to get to the bottom of the unrest and the government to rectify any lapses."

"Otherwise, the rebellion might cause a chain effect," retired Brigadier General Shahedul Anam Khan added.

(Additional reporting by Rafiqur Rahman, Serajul Islam Quadir, Nizam Ahmed, Ruma Paul and Azad Majumder; Editing by Paul Tait)