Identifier
Created
Classification
Origin
07DHAKA690
2007-04-26 07:28:00
CONFIDENTIAL
Embassy Dhaka
Cable title:  

HASINA, ZIA MAY RETURN OR STAY AS THEY CHOOSE

Tags:  PHUM PGOV KDEM PREL BG 
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VZCZCXRO7757
PP RUEHCI
DE RUEHKA #0690 1160728
ZNY CCCCC ZZH
P 260728Z APR 07
FM AMEMBASSY DHAKA
TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC PRIORITY 3918
INFO RUEHIL/AMEMBASSY ISLAMABAD 1624
RUEHNE/AMEMBASSY NEW DELHI 9865
RUEHKT/AMEMBASSY KATHMANDU 9062
RUEHLO/AMEMBASSY LONDON 1690
RUEHOT/AMEMBASSY OTTAWA 0692
RUEHBY/AMEMBASSY CANBERRA 0325
RUEHLM/AMEMBASSY COLOMBO 7901
RUEHCI/AMCONSUL CALCUTTA
RUEKDIA/DIA WASHDC
RHHMUNA/CDR USPACOM HONOLULU HI
RHEHNSC/NSC WASHDC
C O N F I D E N T I A L DHAKA 000690 

SIPDIS

SIPDIS

E.O. 12958: DECL: 04/26/2017
TAGS: PHUM PGOV KDEM PREL BG
SUBJECT: HASINA, ZIA MAY RETURN OR STAY AS THEY CHOOSE

REF: DHAKA 0646

Classified By: Charge d'Affaires, a.i. Geeta Pasi; reason 1.4(d)

C O N F I D E N T I A L DHAKA 000690

SIPDIS

SIPDIS

E.O. 12958: DECL: 04/26/2017
TAGS: PHUM PGOV KDEM PREL BG
SUBJECT: HASINA, ZIA MAY RETURN OR STAY AS THEY CHOOSE

REF: DHAKA 0646

Classified By: Charge d'Affaires, a.i. Geeta Pasi; reason 1.4(d)


1. (U) Government Relents: On April 25, the government issued
two press notes announcing that Awami League President Sheikh
Hasina is free to return to Bangladesh and that Bangladesh
Nationalist Party Chairwoman Khaleda Zia is under no pressure
to leave. The April 25 note on Hasina referred to the
government's April 18 note "temporarily" banning Hasina based
on "concerns for her personal safety" and said the decision
to withdraw the measure was made in light of media and other
objections. The press note on Zia cited media "speculation"
about Zia's plans to leave Bangladesh and purported
restrictions on her freedom of movement. The press note
reiterates previous government statements that it "has never
pressured and is not pressuring" Zia to leave the country,
nor has it imposed any restrictions on her movements.


2. (C) The press reports the decision was made by the Chief
Advisor and the Council of Advisers after two days of
emergency meetings. In an April 25 conversation with
Ambassador Butenis, the Chief Adviser's Spokesman, Fahim
Munaim (protect) said Chief Adviser Fakhruddin and the
advisers pushed hard for a decision and told the military to
end the matter now.


3. (C) The increasingly overt actions to bar Hasina from and
force Zia to leave Bangladesh were fast becoming an
embarrassment to the government. Pictures of Hasina turned
away in tears at Heathrow and daily reports of Zia's saga
were creating public sympathy for the two political leaders
and a rare detente between them. On April 22, reports
circulated, later determined to be untrue, that Zia had been
hospitalized for high blood pressure and would not be able to
leave the country. On April 21, authorities permitted her
eldest son Tarique, imprisoned for various charges including
extortion, to visit her for a brief period fueling media
speculation that the visit signaled her imminent departure.
Tarique's visit comes after several days of events, beginning
with the arrest of Zia's youngest son, Arafat "Coco" Rahman,
which were widely perceived as pressure to induce her to
leave Bangladesh (ref A).


4. (C) BNP Leadership Snafu: Rumors about Zia's fate may have
contributed to reports on April 21, later rebutted, that Zia
fired BNP Secretary General Mannan Bhuiyan and replaced him
with Brigadier General (retired) Hannan Shah. By the evening
of April 21, TV networks showed clips of Mannan Bhuiyan and
BNP members declaring that Mannan Bhuyian was still the
Secretary General of the BNP. Long time politician Mainuddin

SIPDIS
Bhuiyan told poloff that Shah, most likely, received word
from Zia that "he would make a good BNP secretary general"
and took it to mean he had been appointed. "Shah started the
confusion," Bhuiyan explained, "by going to the press too
fast and not having any appointment letter."


5. (SBU) Court Asks Government To Explain: On April 22, the
High Court ruled that the GOB must explain within five days
whether Zia was under arrest. Acting in response to a
petition, the court noted that Zia was not allowed to receive
visitors, her telephone connections were cut off, she was not
permitted to attend the Independence Day celebration on March
26, and she was not permitted to attend a funeral.


6. (C) Comment: Although the government has backed away from
tactics to pressure Zia to leave and to prevent Hasina from
returning, it has by no means conceded defeat. The
government continues to pursue investigations against both
ladies, requesting financial records from banks even as it
was issuing its face-saving press notes. The suspended
arrest warrant against Hasina remains pending, while charges
against Zia cannot be ruled out. End Comment.
PASI