<div><p>DHAKA (Reuters) - Bangladesh executed five convicted killers of independence leader Sheikh Mujibur Rahman on Wednesday, officials at a Dhaka prison said.</p><p>Mujib and most of his family were killed in 1975 in a revolt by young army officers. One of his two surviving daughters, Sheikh Hasina, is now the country's prime minister.</p><p>The executed ex-officers were identified as Major Bazlul Huda, Lieutenant Colonel Mohiuddin Ahmed, Lieutenant Colonel Syed Faruk Rahman, Lieutenant Colonel Sultan Shahriar Rashid Khan and army lancer A.K.M. Mohiuddin.</p><p>Bangladesh's Supreme Court on Wednesday rejected appeals by the five convicted men against their death sentences, removing the last legal barrier to their execution.</p><p>Within hours, legal and government officials told reporters outside Dhaka central prison the executions had been carried out.</p><p>"The executions have pulled the curtain finally down on one of the history's most gruesome killings," chief state attorney Mahbube Alam said.</p><p>Six other former officers convicted in their absence were never caught and another died abroad.</p><p>The trial of Mujib's killers began only after Hasina was first elected prime minister in 1996. The process was slow because of legal complications and came to a halt after her rival, Begum Khaleda Zia, came to power in 2001.</p><p>After assuming office for a second term in January last year, Hasina vowed to complete the trial of those accused over her father's death as soon as possible.</p><p>She and her sister, Sheikh Rehana, survived the 1975 killings because they were abroad at the time. Their mother, three brothers and many relatives were killed.</p><p>(Additional reporting by Nizam Ahmed; Editing by Andrew Dobbie)</p><img src="http://admatch-syndication.mochila.com/images/ad.gif?aid=67913964&bid=informcom" /></div><div id="copyright"><div>

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