Islamists protest US Navy Cyclone Sidr relief

Dhaka, Nov 24 - Several hundred activists of the radical Islamic group Hizb ut Tahrir staged protests here before the arrival of two ships of the US Navy for distributing relief supplies among cyclone-affected people.

Two warships, USS Essex and USS Kearsarge -- each carrying 20 helicopters and 3,500 marines on board with emergency relief supplies, medical and emergency evacuation teams -- are scheduled to enter Bangladesh waters Saturday and Tuesday.

The
protesters Friday carried a banner reading 'Prevent American ships from
entering the Bay of Bengal in the name of distributing relief' and
chanted slogans 'Go back to America' and 'US has no place in
Bangladesh'.