(REOPENS FGN23)

JI earlier announced it would stage a nationwide "peaceful protest" against the exposure of their 10 top leaders to trial "as part of the ruling Awami League's political vendetta". "The JI activists ran away after creating panic in parts of the city exploding cocktails and damaging buses for a brief period," a police official said. Yesterday, the Cabinet approved an amendment to a law that will allow the government to seek tougher penalties for war criminals. Prosecutors said soon after the amendment was passed by Parliament, expectedly in the next few days, they will file an appeal against Mollah's life term handed down by Bangladesh's International Crimes Tribunal (ICT) on February 8. "My heart goes out to them (Shahbagh protesters)," Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina told the Parliament yesterday while leaders of her ruling Awami League and its allies visited the protest site to express solidarity with the protesters and backed their demands for banning the "communal" JI. However, the youngsters declined to allow some senior government leaders to deliver speech at the scene, saying the campaign was "strictly non-political" and "non-partisan". Politicians, who participated in the Liberation War, clerics and university professors also extended their support even as individuals offered food and water to the protesters. Main opposition Bangladesh Nationalist Party (BNP), a crucial ally of JI, called the campaign a "government sponsored" demonstration and feared the protesters were used by the Awami League to carry out its political agenda.