BANGABHABAN BLOCKADE

C O N F I D E N T I A L DHAKA 000043 SIPDIS SIPDIS E.O. 12958: DECL: 01/09/2017 TAGS: PREL PGOV BG SUBJECT: BANGABHABAN BLOCKADE REF: DHAKA 33 Classified By: Deputy Chief of Mission Geeta Pasi; Reason 1.4(d) ¶1. (SBU) The Awami League (AL) led alliance's nationwide blockade entered its third and final day on January 9 with the focus shifting to an attempted blockade of the Presidential compound, Bangabhaban, located in southwest Dhaka. In the early morning, scores of police and soldiers surrounded Bangabhaban with several barbed wire covered barriers to prevent protesters from approaching the compound. Police stopped and dispersed 200 marchers heading to Bangabhaban from the Fakirerpool neighborhood north of the compound. Protesters threw stones and firecracker at police and police responded with tear gas and rubber bullets. At other intersections leading to Bangabhaban police used clubs to disperse hundreds of protesters. In all, an estimated 1,000 protesters gathered in various pockets surrounding Bangabhaban and a dozen protesters reported injuries. ¶2. (SBU) In the evening of January 8 two small devices exploded in the Diplomatic Enclave, one near the headquarters of the Liberal Democratic Party (LDP) and the other near the home of the former law minister Moudud Ahmed. The two-inch by two-inch sized bomblets were designed more to make noise than to wound. No one was hurt and the police received a warning phone call in advance of the explosions. ¶3. (SBU) Chittagong observed the blockade program peacefully, with AL-led alliance activists marching without police interference. The port is officially open but effectively non-operational with 21,000 containers jammed into an area designed for 13,000 containers. In Sylhet and Khulna alliance protesters marched without incident, while in Rajshahi AL-led alliance demonstrators held a peacefully observed rally. ¶4. (C) AL Organizing Secretary Sultan Muhammad Mansur Ahmed told poloff that the AL and its allies will meet tonight to consider plans which they will announce tomorrow at a rally at the Paltan Maidan grounds near Bangabhaban in downtown Dhaka. He said that additional political actions being considered include another nationwide blockade from January 12 to 15, and a nationwide hartal from January 18 to 22 intended to prevent elections from taking place. BUTENIS