Identifier
Created
Classification
Origin
04DHAKA3164
2004-09-16 04:13:00
SECRET
Embassy Dhaka
Cable title:  

USG REJECTS REQUEST FOR SUPPORT FOR POSSIBLE COUP

Tags:  BG PGOV PINR PREL 
pdf how-to read a cable
O 160413Z SEP 04
FM AMEMBASSY DHAKA
TO SECSTATE WASHDC IMMEDIATE 5437
S E C R E T DHAKA 003164 


E.O. 12958: DECL: 09/16/2014
TAGS: BG PGOV PINR PREL
SUBJECT: USG REJECTS REQUEST FOR SUPPORT FOR POSSIBLE COUP

Classified By: Ambassador Harry K. Thomas, reasons 1.4 b and d

S E C R E T DHAKA 003164


E.O. 12958: DECL: 09/16/2014
TAGS: BG PGOV PINR PREL
SUBJECT: USG REJECTS REQUEST FOR SUPPORT FOR POSSIBLE COUP

Classified By: Ambassador Harry K. Thomas, reasons 1.4 b and d


1. (S) Summary: Retired Bangladesh Army Chief Khan asked for
USG support in ending Bangladesh,s current administration
and in bringing a government of national unity consisting of
senior leaders of both major parties. Khan said
Bangladesh,s only way out of dynastic government and the
rise of Islamic extremism was to draft a new constitution
based on the presidential system that would prevent current
Prime Minster Zia or former Prime Minister Hasina from
holding office. He asked for USG support for a two-three year
interim government and a constitutional assembly. Ambassador
responded that the USG would not under any circumstances
support a coup against the Bangladesh Government (BDG),would
ensure that any military action against Prime Minister Zia
would result in sanctions against the successor government.
End Summary.


2. (S) Ambassador recently dined with Lt. General Noorudin.
Khan (retired),former Chief of Army Staff and Awami League
cabinet minister, who requested USG assistance in bringing a
government of national unity to power and ridding Bangladesh
of Sheikh Hasina and Khaledia Zia through a series of mass
agitations. Ambassador told Khan that the USG supports
democracy and stability and cannot sanction any extra
constitutional means of removing the government. The USG does
not support military coups stressed the Ambassador.


3. (S) Khan responded that Bangladesh,s future is hostage to
two women who cannot put aside their difference for the
nation,s sake. Khan accused the BDG of bankrupting the
military. He said the seven top generals &who he derided as
the malevolent seven8 were the Prime Minister,s brother
(Retired Major Eskander,s) classmates and were chosen for
their loyalty and not competence. He said that the BDG had
started the politicization of the officer,s corps during
Zia,s first term (91-96) and that Hasina had accelerated it
(96-2001). He recommended that General Abu Tayeb Mahammad
Zaahirul Alam (called General Zahir),commandant of the
National Defense College, take charge of the country. He
said that General Zahir is a true supporter of democracy and
would form a government with competent ministers from both
parties for two-three years to improve Bangladesh,s weak

institutions, draft a new constitution, end corruption and to
attract much needed foreign investment before holding
internationally observed democratic elections.


4. (S) Khan alleged that the BDG fears coups even from its
Eskander,s batch mates and had sidelined Major General Rokon
to the Quartermaster Corps earlier this year because he was
thought to be a threat to the current government. (Comment:
There is much speculation over Rokon,s reassignment and
while it could have been because he is one of the few
officers thought capable of staging a coup, he is a batch
mate of the Prime Minister,s brother and may have been
placed in a holding pattern until a more lucrative assignment
opens in the coming months. End Comment.)


5. (S) Khan, a former minister under Sheikh Hasina resigned
from the Awami League in early 2004 in frustration with its
inability to focus on the future. He accused &Hasina of
losing her cards8 after the August 21 attack on the Awami
League. Instead of calling for an independent investigation
and taking the moral high ground, she insisted on repeated
strikes and attempted to bring the government down. She lost
popular support and an unintended consequence may be that the
BDG no longer feels compelled to solve the crime, he said.
Khan said that an interim military government is the only
alternative to continued dynastic politics. He said that
first son Tariq Rahman and his younger brother Arafat Rahman
& will terrorize the country, extort money from businesses
and ruin the economy.8 Khan also belittled the political
abilities of Hasina,s son and sister, asserting they were
equally as corrupt and venal as the Rahman,s.


6. (S) Khan, in part, blames himself for the country,s
current predicament. He said that when Bangladeshi military
dictator General Ershad was forced out office in 1991, then
Pakistani military chief Alam Beg, an old friend and
colleague sent him an emissary urging that Khan become the
President. When Khan refused, Beg asked whom should Pakistan
support. Khan recommended that Pakistan support the BNP
because it consisted of military officers and small
businessmen he believed would lead the country in the right
direction. Pakistan, then used ISI to fund the BNP and
India,s Research and Analysis Wing (RAW) began funding the
Awami League. Such funding continues to this day, Khan said.
We have become the playground for India and Pakistan. Khan
claimed that New Delhi was unhappy with Sheikh Hasina,s
performance and funded both parties during the 2001
elections. He claimed that RAW funded Tariq Rahman, who
pledged to deliver his mother on gas exports and water
sharing differences but was unable to do so. He predicted New
Delhi would work hard to bring Hasina back to power in 2006.


7. (S) Khan said that the BDG is catering to the "disastrous
policies" of Islamic parties in the ruling coalition to
ensure that it wins the 2006 elections. He blamed the BDG,s
decision to ban books of the Ahmadiyya sect and not to
follow-up on attacks in the northern city of Sylhet on the
British High Commissioner and the Mayor on its need to
protect the Islamists.


8. (S) On September 13, Lt. Gen. Mahbubur Rahman, another
retired Army Chief and current BNP MP, told Ambassador that
the military would always look to the USG for a signal to go
ahead with a coup. He said that the USG had played a positive
role in helping to thwart two potential coups in 1996 and a
no from the USG would always carry weight. While expressing
disdain for Sheikh Hasina and Begum Zia, Rahman predicted
that Bangladesh would be under dynastic leadership for at
least another generation. He said that the Army views itself
as Bangladesh,s only respected organization and does not
want to interfere in civilian politics. Earlier Major
General Chowdhury, retired, told us that the military would
no nothing to risk its participation in UN peacekeeping
missions.

Bio Note Zahir


9. (S) General Zahir is a graduate of the British Staff
College at Camberley and has traveled extensively, including
the U.S. for military conferences. He also served a
battalion commander in UNIKOM. Zahir has commanded two
brigades and two divisions (most officers only get one
command opportunity at each level) and is well respected by
colleagues.


10. (S) Comment: Khan maintains excellent ties to the
military but may be acting on his own. Many interlocutors
discount the possibility of a coup but we will keep a close
eye on military activities. We will take advantage of DAS
Patterson,s October visit to arrange speaking opportunities
and meeting with the military to stress the importance of
civilian leadership, including an address to the National
Defense College and a meeting with General Zahir.


11. (S) The United States has tremendous leverage over both
the Bangladeshi military and civilian rulers because of
Dhaka,s increasing role in UN peacekeeping missions.
Bangladesh currently has 12,000 troops participating in UNPKO
and we should use the carrot and stick approach to remind
Dhaka that: a) a coup would end their participation in PKO
and b) that failure to solve terrorist crimes and allowing
Islamist groups to operate would call into question
Bangladesh,s ability to join PKOs. End Comment.


THOMAS