With the rejection of the mercy petitions, there will be no obstacle to the executions of the militants.

Sources said the president rejected the mercy petitions on Sunday while the relevant documents were sent to the ministry concerned yesterday.

Deputy Inspector General (Prisons) Maj Shamsul Haider Siddique told The Daily Star last night that he did not receive any official order regarding rejection of mercy petitions.

He, however, said the order would reach the jail through the law and home ministries and it may take two to three days.

According to the jail code, if the president rejects clemency prayers by the condemned, the jail authorities are to reschedule the date of execution within 21-28 days from the date of receipt of the copy of his decision.

The condemned are Jama'atul Mujahideen Bangladesh (JMB) chief Abdur Rahman, its second-in-command Siddiqul Islam alias Bangla Bhai, its Majlish-e-Shura members Ataur Rahman Sunny, Khaled Saifullah and Abdul Awal, suicide bomber Iftekhar Al Mamun and absconding Asadul Islam alias Arif. The captured six are in different jails.

In the first week of February the jail authorities sent the mercy petitions of the six to the president through the home ministry.

The seven JMB militants were convicted and sentenced to death for killing two judges in Jhalakathi in a suicide bomb attack in November 2005. One of them, Asadul Islam alias Arif, is absconding.

Senior assistant judges Jagannath Pandey and Sohel Ahmed were killed in the suicide bomb attack at Purba Chadkati in Jhalakathi town in the wake of a series of bombings carried out by Islamist militants across the country.

The High Court (HC) on August 31 last year upheld the trial court verdict handing down death penalties to the seven convicts on May 29.

The Supreme Court on November 28 last year rejected the six convicts' petitions seeking permission to appeal against the HC judgement.