Dhaka  - Accused war criminals from Bangladesh's 1971 war of independence from Pakistan are to be prosecuted under existing domestic law, a senior minister said Wednesday.

Those accused of collaborating with Pakistani troops in the atrocities of 38 years ago would be tried under the International Crimes Tribunals Act, passed two years after the liberation war, Shafiq Ahmed, the minister for law, justice and parliamentary affairs, told reporters at his office.

Dhaka - Bangladesh Nobel laureate Muhammad Yunus Tuesday called for national unity to fight the global meltdown, which has started affecting the country's impoverished economy.

"It needs great courage and national unity to face the problem nationally," said the micro-credit guru, who won the Nobel peace prize with his Grameen Bank in 2006.

Speaking after a meeting of a national task force, he said food, energy, power, port and agriculture should have priority when it comes to dealing with the crisis.

Dhaka  - Bangladesh and India Tuesday renewed their inland water transit and trade protocol to increase river-bound commerce between the two South Asian neighbours, officials said.

Bangladesh Shipping Secretary Masud Elahi, and Indian Additional Secretary Vijay Chibber of the road, transport and highways ministry, signed the deal after two days of negotiations in Dhaka.

The renewal takes effect April 1, 2009 and will remain in force for two years.

Dhaka- Bangladesh on Tuesday alerted its intelligence agencies and local governments against possible militant attacks on garment industries contributing major export earnings to its economy, a junior minister said.

"We have alerted the intelligence agencies so that the militants cannot unleash attacks on the ready-made garment industries," Tanjim Ahmed Sohel Taj, the state minister for home affairs, said at a press briefing after a meeting with the leaders of the Bangladesh Garment Manufacturers and Exporters Association.

Dhaka - Bangladesh on Monday formed a committee to formulate a plan for the reconstitution of its border force following last month's mutiny at the Bangladesh Rifles (BDR) headquarters in which more than 70 army officers were killed, a senior official said.

"I will do it at the earliest in the interest of the country," Mainul Islam, the director general of the paramilitary force and committee head, told German Press Agency dpa after a three-hour meeting of the coordination body.

Dhaka, Mar. 23: The Bangladesh Government has banned people suspected of war crimes during the 1971 war of independence from Pakistan from travelling abroad.

It says these people, who are accused of collaborating with Pakistani troops, will face war crime trials.

Among them are leaders of the largest religious party Jamaat-i-Islami - a rival of the ruling Awami League, the BBC reports.