BANGLADESH HANDS OVER MORE TERRORISTS TO INDIA

C O N F I D E N T I A L SECTION 01 OF 02 DHAKA 001092 SIPDIS TERREP DEPT FOR SCA/FO, SCA/INSB, S/CT, INR E.O. 12958: DECL: 12/07/2029 TAGS: PTER PINS PGOV PINR IN BG SUBJECT: BANGLADESH HANDS OVER MORE TERRORISTS TO INDIA REF: A. DHAKA 1073 ¶B. DHAKA 1035 ¶C. DHAKA 1025 ¶D. DHAKA 984 ¶E. DHAKA 981 ¶F. DHAKA 980 Classified By: DCM NICHOLAS DEAN REASONS 1.4 (b),(c),(d),(g) Summary -------------- ¶1. (C) Bangladesh security forces detained leaders of the United Liberation Front of Assam (ULFA) in November and handed them to India's Border Security Forces (BSF). The detentions appear to be the result of Indian-Bangladesh cooperative efforts to deny Bangladesh as a safe haven for Indian extremists. The recent cooperation between India and Bangladesh will help provide a positive environment for Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina's upcoming visit to India, where she is expected to sign three security related agreements with her counterpart. The United States can help build GOB security agencies' counterterrorist capabilities as well as promote much needed GOB interagency cooperation. ULFA Leaders Handed over to India -------------- ¶2. (SBU) Bangladesh security forces detained ULFA founder Arabinda Rajkhowa and his family, its "finance secretary" Chitrabon Hazarika, its "foreign secretary" Shashadhar Choudhury, and other ULFA members in November. The Bangladesh Rifles handed the detained terrorists over to officials from India's Border Security Force (BSF). Officially, the BSF captured the terrorists along the Bangladesh-India border. Rajkhowa declared he was "betrayed" by the GOB when he first appeared before an Indian court. Both Indian and Bangladeshi officials, including Bangladesh's Home Minister and Home Secretary have publicly denied Bangladesh's role in capturing the terrorists. Some interlocutors speculated that Indian security agencies passed to their Bangladeshi counterparts information relating to ULFA leaders and other Indian insurgents believed hiding within Bangladesh. GOB Committed to Denying Space to Terrorists -------------- ¶3. (C) Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina's Security Advisor Tarique Siddique emphasized to DCM and PolCouns the GOB's desire to ensure transnational terrorists no longer used Bangladesh as a safe haven. Siddique said the GOB had decided not to arrest suspected Indian terrorists, but instead to "push them back" into India. He explained that by pushing them back the GOB avoided having to process the detained terrorists in Bangladesh's criminal justice system and a prolonged holding of Indian insurgents in Bangladeshi prisons. Siddique noted that many Indian extremists had developed deep roots in Bangladesh, including through marriage and by acquiring Bangladeshi passports. Siddique did express concern about the possibility of blowback as the GOB tightened the screws on these militant groups, which had long been allowed to operate with impunity. He also confirmed that ULFA leader Anup Chetia remained in Bangladesh's custody. Comment -------------- ¶4. (C) It seems clear these actions, in part, are intended to create a positive atmosphere in the run up to the Prime Minister's visit to India and to help bolster the prospects for Indian concessions on issues of interest to Bangladesh. At the same time, GOB officials are worried about blowback from militant groups who have been used to a "live and let live" approach by previous Bangladesh administrations. There is also a concern that the political opposition will cite this cooperation as part of an alleged sell out to India. This and the lack of a formal extradition treaty are likely key factors to Indian and Bangladeshi official denials that DHAKA 00001092 002 OF 002 the initial detentions occurred in Bangladesh. (Note: The Prime Minister will sign three security related agreements during her visit, an Agreement on Mutual legal Assistance in Criminal Matters, Agreement on Combating International Terrorism, Organized Crime, and Illicit Drug Trafficking, and an Agreement on Transfer of Sentenced Persons during her upcoming visit. End Note.) With Bangladesh demonstrating its commitment to take on militant groups, we should expand on U.S. efforts to help build counterterrorism capacity among GOB security agencies and help Bangladesh develop much needed interagency cooperation. We remain engaged with the GOB to counter potential collateral damage to U.S. interests in the event of blowback from ULFA or sympathetic organizations. MORIARTY