CONGRESSMAN CROWLEY MEETS AWAMI LEAGUE LEADERS

UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 02 DHAKA 001108

SIPDIS

SENSITIVE
SIPDIS

E.O. 12958: N/A
TAGS: PREL PTER PGOV BG
SUBJECT: CONGRESSMAN CROWLEY MEETS AWAMI LEAGUE LEADERS


1. (SBU) Summary. Congressman Joseph Crowley met with Awami
League (AL) leader Sheikh Hasina, with several AL members and
embassy officials. Hasina and others said the international
community and election monitors need to better understand the
election situation in Bangladesh, perhaps by arriving well in
advance of elections. Hassina accused the BNP/JI of
supporting international and JMB led domestic terrorism, and
complained of an already politicized election process.
Congessman Crowley discussed the legislative status of draft
US legislation on duty free access for all goods from
Bangladesh and pressed for action on corruption issues. End
Summary.


2. (U) On February 22, Congressman Joe Crowley met with Awami
League and opposition leader Sheikh Hasina. Also present were
the AL's General Secretary Abdul Jalil, Faruk Ahmed
Chowdhury, Dr. Mahmud Hassa, and Dr. Muhiuddin Khan Alamgir.
Robin Roizman, professional staff member on the Committee on
International Relations, Charge d'Affaires, control officer,
and poloff (notetaker) were also present for the one hour
meeting.


3. (SBU) Crowley congratulated Hasina on returning to
Parliament. Hasina replied saying that the AL has always
wanted to return, but it was only thanks to attendance by the
CDA and other foreign diplomats at her return session that
she was able to speak freely in Parliament. She promised to
remain so as not to give the government an excuse for not
discussing the AL's election reform proposals. Hasina
continued saying that the international community does not
really understand the situation here in Bangladesh, and asked
Crowley, rhetorically, "how many of your Party members have
been killed" for supporting their party. She recounted the
August 21, 2004 grenade attacks, accussing the BNP/Jamaat
Islami government for sponsoring the attack, saying that "JI
is primarily behind it." Hasina and others accused BNP/JI of
using black (illegally earned) money to support its terror
and voter intimidation programs, citing several examples of
violence against ordinary AL voters following the last
election. She accusse
d the Prime Minister's son, Tarique Rahman, of recently
meeting with both Italian Mafiosi and Dubai underworld leader
Daud Ibrahim to improve his torture and intimidation
techniques.


4. (SBU) Hasina and others lambasted the voter registration
process. They repeated their position that the voter list
should be updated, rather than created anew. They complained
about the polilticization of the process, from the Election
Commission down through the use of party activists as
enumerators to conduct the voter registration drive, She
complained of selective registration, saying the registration
process is flawed because "its easy to discriminate as
everyone knows who supports what party." As evidence of the
politicization of the Election Commission, she cited its
refusal to accept a High Court decision that the EC should
only update old lists rather than make new lists. (Comment:
The actual court decision had language supporting both the
AL's and the BNP's positions. End comment) Hassina asked
for the international community to take note of all this and
to provide a strong presence in Bangladesh well in advance of
the elections and "not simply the day of the election." The
AL leaders compla
ined that the recent surge in prices of basic commodities was
simply a BNP/JI effort to earn additional funds for their
pre-election coffers. On JMB, Hasina and others alleged that
the bombers had to have BNP/JI cooperation in order to
detonate the 500 bombs across the country. Arguing the BDG
continues to protect JMB, she said no arrested JMB member has
been the victim of an extrajudicial killing, while "minor
criminals are killed" as a rule.


5. (SBU) Crowley accepted the statements asking for
additional international community involvement in the
elections, informed Hassina of the difficulty in passing
legislation on duty free access for Bangladesh garments, and
pressed for movement on corruption. On the voter registration
issue, Crowley probed for information on how the draft lists
might be reviewed and what role the AL would play in
correcting the lists before they became final. Hassina
acknowledged that the AL would have an opportunity to review
the lists and propose corrections, additions and revisions,
but seemed to dismiss this opportunity as beyond the manpower

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capacity of the alliance. Despite the difficulties, Crowley
urged Hassina to take advantage of all legal means for
ensuring registration of her party's supporters, saying the
goal should be the registration of all legally eligible
voters.


6. (U) This cable was cleared by Representative Crowley.
CHAMMAS