A war crimes tribunal in Bangladesh has ruled that a senior member of the main opposition party should be put to death.

Salauddin Quader Chowdhury was sentenced for his involvement in the killing of hundreds during the country's 1971 fight for independence from Pakistan.

The verdict against Mr Chowdhury was given in a packed courtroom in the nation's capital Dhaka.

Fearing a backlash from Bangladesh Nationalist Party supporters, authorities deployed paramilitary forces in the southeastern city of Chittagong, where Mr Chowdhury had been elected to parliament six times.

Attorney General Mahbubey Alam said the tribunal convicted Mr Chowdhury on nine of 23 charges against him, including four counts of genocide.

He was found guilty of aiding and ordering the killing of at least 200 people, mostly minority Hindus, during the war in Chittagong.

During the war Mr Chowdhury's father was an influential member of the Muslim League which worked to prevent Bangladesh from breaking away.

Mr Chowdhury's wife Farhat said her husband would appeal and that "we will do whatever we need to show the world this is a farce."

Bangladesh says Pakistani soldiers, aided by local collaborators, killed three million people and raped 200,000 women during the nine-month war that ended in December 1971.

Six people have already been convicted by the tribunal, including four top officials of the country's main Islamist party, Jamaat-e-Islami. The verdicts led to widespread violence.