Identifier
Created
Classification
Origin
06DHAKA2503
2006-04-30 11:51:00
CONFIDENTIAL
Embassy Dhaka
Cable title:  

AMBASSADOR'S COURTESY CALL ON AWAMI LEAGUE

Tags:  PREL PGOV BG 
pdf how-to read a cable
VZCZCXYZ0000
RR RUEHWEB

DE RUEHKA #2503/01 1201151
ZNY CCCCC ZZH
R 301151Z APR 06
FM AMEMBASSY DHAKA
TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC 7470
INFO RUEHNE/AMEMBASSY NEW DELHI 9076
RUEHLM/AMEMBASSY COLOMBO 7414
RUEHIL/AMEMBASSY ISLAMABAD 1098
RUEHLO/AMEMBASSY LONDON 1436
C O N F I D E N T I A L DHAKA 002503 

SIPDIS

SIPDIS

E.O. 12958: DECL: 04/30/2011
TAGS: PREL PGOV BG
SUBJECT: AMBASSADOR'S COURTESY CALL ON AWAMI LEAGUE
PRESIDENT HASINA


Classified By: A/DCM D.C. McCullough, reason para 1.5 D.

C O N F I D E N T I A L DHAKA 002503

SIPDIS

SIPDIS

E.O. 12958: DECL: 04/30/2011
TAGS: PREL PGOV BG
SUBJECT: AMBASSADOR'S COURTESY CALL ON AWAMI LEAGUE
PRESIDENT HASINA


Classified By: A/DCM D.C. McCullough, reason para 1.5 D.


1. (C) Summary. Hasina stated she "wants" to participate in
elections but major changes are necessary to ensure a free
and fair process. She credited foreign pressure for the
capture of JMB leaders, and reiterated her view that the most
senior levels of the BNP were behind the 2004 grenade attack
on her. Her political secretary expressed concern that
Islamists and others will be "activated" to attack Hasina and
the AL during the election campaign. End Summary.


2. (SBU) On April 28, Ambassador paid a one-hour courtesy
call on Awami League president Sheikh Hasina. AL Secretary
General Abdul Jalil, Political Secretary Saber Hussain
Chowdhury, two other AL officials, and P/E counselor
(notetaker) were also present.


3. (SBU) Ambassador apologized to Hasina for having had to
postpone their meeting from the evening before after bad
weather forced a delay in the Ambassador's return from
Chittagong, where she had accompanied retired American
General Hank Stackpole on a visit commemorating the 15th
anniversary of Operation Sea Angel. Hasina confirmed that
Stackpole is still fondly remembered by Bangladeshis, and
commented that the BNP government in 1991 had denied the true
scale of the cyclone disaster until the AL began delivering
relief supplies to the affected areas. "They still don't
know how to govern," she added.


4. (C) Turning to elections, the Ambassador reiterated that
the USG wants a successful and democratic process, but it
does not, contrary to some local speculation, support the
BNP's re-election, or any other party for that matter.
"That's my personal assurance to you," the Ambassador said.
Elections should be free and fair, Hasina replied and then
reviewed the origins of election rigging during the military
rule of Generals Zia and Ershad. She positively contrasted
her government's performance on economic and other fronts to
the current BNP administration's record of price hikes, power
shortages, and corruption. She asserted her party remains
true to its roots as servants of the people, and disdains the
politics of "black money" and "muscle men." "We don't nurse
these bad elements," she stated. Referring to the BNP, she
charged, "They just want to stay in power to enjoy their
illegal money."


5. (C) Asked if she would participate in the next election,
Hasina replied: "We want to participate." She then made her
case for reconstituting the Electoral Commission as a "truly
neutral body" and her other demands for caretaker government
and electoral changes. The Ambassador congratulated Hasina
for challenging BNP to match AL's commitment to make
financial disclosure statements for its parliamentary
candidates, and suggested that this could be part of an
enhanced electoral code of conduct. Hasina had no
substantive response.


6. (C) Hasina asserted that the BDG had arrested Bangla Bhai
and Abdur Rahman only in response to U.S. and other
international pressure. Ambassador interjected that there
appeared to be significant local political pressure as well.
All seven members of JMB's senior leadership council, Hasina
resumed, had links to Jamaat Islami's notorious student wing,
Chhatra Shibir. She dismissed JI as a "terrorist party," and
while JI and the AL had previously sat together in opposition
to the BNP, she stoutly denied the parties had ever had any
kind of partnership or understanding. She alleged that, as
part of JI's infiltration of the police, civil service, and
the military, madrassah alumni now constitute 35 percent of
army troops. Political Secretary Chowdhury insisted the
figure for new officers is even higher.


7. (C) The Ambassador assured Hasina that the USG continues
to press the BDG to prevent and solve crimes of political
violence, including the 2004 attack on her and her leadership
at a Dhaka rally and also the assassination of Shah Kibria.
Hasina and Saber Chowdhury repeated their view that the 2004
grenade attack involved elements of JI and the Prime
Minister's son, Tarique Rahman. "It is hard for us to
believe that the prime minister herself did not have
knowledge of this attack and the cover-up," Saber asserted.
He expressed concern about the likelihood of new attacks on
Hasina and the AL as the election approaches, and feared that
Islamists and members of the Rapid Action Battalion will be
"activated" to attack them once the campaign starts. "Only
God will give me security," Hasina said.


8. (C) Comment: While it is easy to discount many of Hasina's
statements as self-serving or flat out wrong, concerns about

her safety are much harder to dismiss.

CHAMMAS