ANNIVERSARY OF AUGUST 17 NATIONWIDE BLASTS

C O N F I D E N T I A L SECTION 01 OF 02 DHAKA 005224 SIPDIS SIPDIS E.O. 12958: DECL: 08/17/2016 TAGS: PTER KISL PGOV PREL BG SUBJECT: ANNIVERSARY OF AUGUST 17 NATIONWIDE BLASTS Classified By: A/DCM D.C. McCullough, reason para 1.5 d. ¶1. (C) One year after the nationwide blasts that rocked Bangladesh, political parties of all hues are holding commemorative rallies in Dhaka to condemn terrorism and Jamaatul Mujahidin Bangladesh, the group charged with the blasts and a subsequent wave of attacks. Some local media called for the execution of JMB leaders already sentenced to death for their role in the attacks, and some highlighted the government's failure to identify JMB's presumed "godfathers." See para 5 for statistics pertaining to the JMB investigation. End Summary. ¶2. (SBU) On August 17, 2005, approximately 463 small improvised explosive devices exploded almost simultaneously in 63 of Bangladesh's 64 districts, killing two and injuring about 20 persons. Thousands of leaflets in Bangla, English, and Arabic found at the sites affirmed JMB's determination to achieve a strict form of Sharia law and reject as anti-Islamic democracy and other "Western" concepts. The leaflets also castigated the U.S. for its Middle East policies and its alleged persecution of Islam. ¶3. (SBU) After a nearly two-month hiatus, JMB on October 3 initiated a new wave of bombings and attacks that targeted the legal community, killed approximately 30 persons, including two judges, and wounded hundreds. The last and bloodiest attack occurred on December 8 in Netrokona, the home district of Home Minister Babar, and was apparently the third attack to employ a suicide bomber, a new phenomenon for Bangladesh. ¶4. (SBU) On August 17, 2006, the ruling Bangladesh Nationalist Party, the opposition Awami League, and the Islamist IOJ umbrella party were among those groups who organized rallies in Dhaka condemning the JMB attacks and terrorism. Some local media headlined the government's failure to identify the JMB's presumed foreign or domestic political "godfathers." On August 15, Home Minister of Babar had told journalists, "Without proof, we cannot go for action against the persons whose names have been reported to us." Some newspapers echoed widespread Bangladesh calls for the prompt execution of those JMB leaders who, rejecting the legitimacy of a non-Sharia court, did not contest the charges against and were subsequently convicted and sentenced to death for their role in the attacks. ¶5. (C) After a slow start, the government achieved impressive success against JMB. When officers of the new Counter-terrorism Bureau of the Directorate General-Forces Intelligence briefed Ambassador on the JMB investigation, they provided the following statistics: Caught -------------- 915 JMB members, including seven of seven from the senior leadership council, four of the 11 zone commanders, 20 of the 37 district commanders, 75 of the 169 senior-level members, and 800 of the 5800 general membership. Court Cases -------------- 223 cases filed and 103 under investigation. In the four cases already adjudicated, 29 defendants received the death sentence, four received life terms, and one received ten years. Suicide Bomber Profile -------------- A single male aged between 16-22 from the lower middle class with a 10th grade education from a government or madrasa school. Missions were voluntary and conducted away from hometowns. JMB Activist Profile -------------- Ahle Hadith Muslim, 53 percent of whom were aged 20-29. Thirty-nine percent were educated in primarily alia madrasas (i.e., which follow government-approved curriculum),and 53 percent were educated in government schools. Sixty-seven percent were employed, though this includes large shares for DHAKA 00005224 002 OF 002 "agriculture" and "manual labor," and 24 percent were students. Among the employed were Islamic teachers and clerics (19 percent); various "professions" (from clerk to engineer) accounted for 17 percent. Note: Most of these numbers have been reported by local media with slightly lower figures. ¶6. (C) Comment: One year after the August 17 blasts, the JMB nightmare remains firmly embedded in Bangladeshi memories. For the opposition, the JMB campaign of terror proved that extremists, backed by ruling party elements, are getting bolder and more violent. For the government, the absence of any JMB attack in the past eight months, the capture of the group's senior leadership, and JMB's near total popular isolation underscore the country's inherently moderate religious culture. While many Bangladeshis, including one senior Jamaat Islami leader, do not believe that JMB is finished, the government remains confident it has "broken the back." One big issue is whether any JMB leaders will be executed before the election in January; while execution supposedly hinges on what could be a lengthy automatic appeals process, today's acquittal of former president Ershad on one of his pending corruption charges, on apparently dubious legal grounds, shows that when properly motivated the government can fashion judicial action to its political liking. Widely-publicized pictures of the current quarters of one JMB death row inmate in what appear to be a very comfortable non-prison setting has fueled speculation that senior JMB leaders could yet wiggle out of the hangman's noose. BUTENIS