ZIA PLEADS FOR SONS

C O N F I D E N T I A L SECTION 01 OF 02 DHAKA 000875

SIPDIS

SIPDIS

E.O. 12958: DECL: 05/09/2017
TAGS: PGOV PHUM BG
SUBJECT: ZIA PLEADS FOR SONS


Classified By: Ambassador Patricia Butenis, reason para 1.4 d.


1. (C) Summary. Khaleda Zia urged the Ambassador to support
her embattled sons Tarique and Koko, asserted she was ready
to leave Bangladesh but the government failed to get her a
Saudi visa, said she has no contact with the military, and is
mystified by the military's actions and objectives. Local
media derided Zia's statement at a post-meeting press
conference that her party abjures dynastic politics. End
Summary.


2. (C) On May 25 in a small function room at the Sheraton
Hotel. the Ambassador paid her farewell call on Bangladesh
Nationalist Party (BNP) Chairperson Begum Khaleda Zia.
Accompanied by poloff (notetaker),she met privately with Zia
and Zubaida Rahman, wife of son Tarique, before engaging in a
broader political conversation that included a dozen, largely
unknown, party functionaries. Estranged Secretary General
Mannan Bhuiyan, the leading contender to replace Zia, was a
last-minute addition to the expanded setting. He nodded
solemnly when Zia made her points, even when she contradicted
what he had told us in a separate meeting the day before
(e.g., why he thought lfiting the polical party ban would be
a mistake).


3. (C) Zia, noticeably thinner but still elegantly coifed and
attired in a lace sari, turned to her daughter-in-law to
plead Tarique's case and appeal for U.S. and international
support. An articulate pediatrician who normally says little
at social functions, Zubaida argued passionately that her
husband is being falsely charged and abused out of envy over
his mass popularity and his unwavering commitment to national
service. Handing over copies of medical reports dating back
to 2003, she said Tarique should be given bail on medical
grounds and should be shifted out of the general jail
population to the special quarters reserved (by law) for
social elites. (Note: According to post RMO's review of the
reports Tarique has tested negatively several times for
hepatitis B, has a sore neck for which he has a prescription,
and may have glaucoma.)


4. (C) Zubaida stated that Tarique is allowed only one
20-minute visit per month, and that his lawyer has been
denied access to his case files. She and Zia stoutly denied
that anyone in the family has overseas money or property,
with Zia adding, "Blame the corrupt but my family is not
corrupt." Zia claimed to be surprised by the military's
actions against Koko, who is "very sick," and Tarique. We
are from the "same family," she remarked, but they don't talk
to me. "Tell me, what do they want? Why are they against me?"


5. (C) The Ambassador expressed sympathy for their suffering,
but told them that the international community lacks the
influence to intervene on individual cases. She noted that
when relatives of detainees from both parties seek our
support, we reply that we are in no position to determine
guilt or innocence but that we do urge the government to
accord due process to all detainees and to treat them
humanely.


6. (C) Zia acknowledged pressure on her to leave Bangladesh,
and stated she was ready to depart if both sons were allowed
to accompany her. However, the arrangement unraveled, she
said, when the government failed to secure for her a Saudi
visa, even after the Saudi Charge visited her at home to
ascertain her travel interest. Asked if traveling abroad
meant exile, Zia replied, "Government will provide
everything?"


7. (C) Zia asked the Ambassador to plead her case with the
government and the military. Her land line at home has been
turned off, although she still has her mobile phone, and
while there are no restrictions on her movements, some people
have been stopped from visiting her at home on the
cantonment. Zia indicated that while earlier she had been
prepared to travel on the assurance that Tarique would follow
shortly, now she wants the family to travel together.


8. (C) Turning to other matters, Zia affirmed support for
political party reform after the ban on political party
activity is lifted, blamed the government for rising rates of
inflation, unemployment, and crime, and alleged that a
previously-free judiciary has been subverted by the
government into a partisan political tool.


9. (C) In response to the Ambassador's query, Zia insisted
she has no regrets over how she handled the run-up to the
aborted elections. She claimed her party regretted the Awami
League's unjustified decision to boycott but had planned to

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hold new elections several months later, a scenario the
Ambassador observed many Bangladeshis would find hard to
fathom.


10. Comment: Zia appeared befuddled by what she sees as a
shocking personal betrayal by her "military family." Her
priority is clearly on saving her sons, but she was cagey on
whether she is ready for political retirement. Ironically,
she and her bitter foe, Sheikh Hasina of the Awami League,
agree that elections should be held soon, the political
activity ban should be lifted as a prelude to implementing
political party reforms, the government is mismanaging the
economy, and the anti-corruption campaign is politically
motivated; yet, there is no interest in either party for
making common cause against the government.


11. (C) Zia's meeting with the Ambassador was big news
locally, with some accounts stating it was Zia's first public
outing since the State of Emergency. Unfortunately for Zia,
the opportunity to reaffirm forcefully her political agenda
was drowned out by media derision of her comment at a
post-meeting press conference that the BNP abjures dynastic
politics.
BUTENIS