Bangladesh arrests man over killing of gay activists

Police in Bangladesh have arrested a home-grown Islamist militant over the killing of two gay rights campaigners amid a surge in violent attacks against liberal activists and other minorities in the south Asian nation.

Xulhaz Mannan, 35, editor of Bangladesh’s first magazine for gay, bisexual and transgender (LGBT) people, and fellow activist Mahbub Rabbi Tonoy, 25, were killed in a apartment in the capital Dhaka late last month.

The attack was claimed by al Qaeda in the Indian subcontinent.