DHAKA VISA VIPER REPORT - APR 2005

C O N F I D E N T I A L DHAKA 002222 SIPDIS SENSITIVE NOFORN VISAS VIPER DEPT FOR INR/IC/TIPOFF AND CA/VO/L/C E.O. 12958: DECL: 05/10/2015 TAGS: KFRD CVIS PTER PINS ASEC SUBJECT: DHAKA VISA VIPER REPORT - APR 2005 REF: A. DHAKA 1308 ¶B. DHAKA 1851 (NOTAL) Classified By: DCM JUDITH A. CHAMMAS, Reason: 1.4b ¶1. (C/NF) Post Visa Viper committe met on May 1, 2005. The committe received a briefing from visiting RAO analysts regarding the state of the Islamist movement in Bangladesh. The Committee decided to nominate several leaders of outlawed radical Islamist groups (Ref A) for inclusion in the Visas Viper program. ¶2. (U) As noted in Ref A, the government of Bangladesh recently outlawed several radical Islamist groups, the Jamaatul Mujahideen Bangladesh (JMB) and the Jagrata Muslim Janata Bangladesh (JMJB). Many leaders of these two groups remain in police custody, though other, lower-level, members have been released. ¶3. (C/NF) Post wishes to nominate the following individuals for inclusion in the Visas Viper program: ¶A. NAME: al-Galib, Muhammad Asadullah DPOB: 01 NOV 1950, Bangladesh Affiliation: Leader of the Ahle Hadith Andolon Bangladesh (AHAB),a radical Islamist group which opposes most social and cultural reform in Bangladesh as "un-Islamic". The AHAB has spawned the two groups recently banned by the government. The JMB is alleged to be the military wing of AHAB, and the JMJB appears to be mainly composed of AHAB members and was formed to counter supposed leftist/Communist influence and criminality in northwestern Bangladesh. As noted in Ref A, the JMB and JMJB are accused of perpetrating a number of attacks on "un-Islamic" targets in northwestern Bangladesh in early 2005. The government believes that al-Galib instigated several IED attacks against cultural events in early 2005, though he claims he has called only for "rhetorical jihad". Local intelligence agencies report that al-Galib has travelled to India, Kuwait, Bahrain, Nepal, and Pakistan in the recent past. In Kuwait, he met with a Salaafist leader. AHAB receives some funding from a Kuwait-based NGO, the Revival of Islamic Heritage Society (RIHS). The Bangladesh government has frozen the local accounts of RIHS as it investigates al-Galib and his associates. The government continues to build its case against al-Galib and his associates, vowing to put them away for a long time. COMMENT: Although Islamist organizations in Bangladesh are primarily focused on internal affairs, al-Galib's travel patterns and links suggest he has ties with regional and international Islamist movements. Such ties could conceivably evolve in a closer working relationship in the future, should time and circumstances permit. ¶B. NAME: RAHMAN, Siddiqur (AKA Bangla Bhai) DPOB: UNK, Bangladesh Affiliation: Operational commander of the JMJB whose exploits have received wide coverage in the local press. Although the government has claimed to have made great efforts to capture Bangla Bhai, he remains at large, possibly in India. While many of the JMJB's attacks were allegedly against "un-Islamic" targets, many seem to be simply crime dressed up in Islamist garb. Although a number of JMJB members have been arrested, no significant arms caches have been seized. Seizures have been limited to locally-produced black powder used in IEDs. ¶C. NAME: ISLAM, Nurul (AKA ISLAM, Maulana Nurul) DPOB: 01 OCT 1963 , Bangladesh Affiliation: Senior associate of Dr. al-Galib and senior member of AHAB. ¶D. NAME: SALAFI, Shaikh Abdus Samad DPOB: 02 AUG 1946, Bangladesh Affiliation: Senior associate of Dr. al-Galib and senior member of AHAB. ¶E. NAME: AZIZULLAH, ASM DPOB: 28 FEB 1976, Bangladesh Affiliation: Senior associate of Dr. al-Galib and senior member of AHAB. ¶4. (U) Visas Viper Committee meeting was chaired by DCM Judith A. Chammas and acting consular section chief Robert Jachim acted as coordinator. THOMAS