BANGLADESH OPPOSITION LEADER'S SON SAYS NO

C O N F I D E N T I A L SECTION 01 OF 02 DHAKA 000485 SIPDIS E.O. 12958: DECL: 05/14/2019 TAGS: PGOV PHUM KCOR KDEM BG SUBJECT: BANGLADESH OPPOSITION LEADER'S SON SAYS NO IMMEDIATE PLANS TO RETURN HOME TO POLITICS REF: 08 DHAKA 1143 DHAKA 00000485 001.2 OF 002 Classified By: Ambassador James F. Moriarty -------------- SUMMARY -------------- ¶1. (C) Tarique Rahman, the son and political heir-apparent to Bangladesh Nationalist Party (BNP) Chairwoman Khaleda Zia, said he did not plan to return to Bangladesh from London anytime soon. Rahman, who faces multiple corruption charges in Bangladesh, told a visiting senior Foreign Service National (FSN) employee from Embassy Dhaka he continued to recover from a spinal injury he said was caused when he was tortured in custody 17 months earlier. Rahman said he remained interested in political developments back home but denied he was playing an active role in party politics. Still, he said nothing to dispel the widespread expectation he would eventually return to Bangladesh and take over the helm of the BNP. -------------- LIFE IN EXILE -------------- ¶2. (C) On May 1, Embassy Dhaka,s Political Specialist met Rahman at the suburban London residence of the BNP,s British chapter president. Rahman has been living in the neighborhood since he was forced to leave Bangladesh on September 11, 2008, by the then military-backed Caretaker Government, who did not want him involved in domestic politics. Jailed on graft charges, the government released Rahman on bail to travel abroad for medical treatment for a back injury he claimed occurred while being tortured in custody. Tarique was widely considered one of the most corrupt individuals in Bangladesh, and the Department is considering a determination for visa revocation for him under Presidential Proclamation 7750 (reftel). ¶3. (SBU) Rahman, who used a crutch to walk, said he still took pain killers and was unlikely to ever return to normal health. &I fall far behind when I walk with my wife and daughter. They stop and let me catch up,8 he told the Political Specialist. &Just the reverse of what I used to do for them when I was in normal health.8 Still, Rahman looked much healthier than when he left Dhaka eight months earlier and he said he took physiotherapy three times a week in London. He was keeping a low profile in London; the few local Bangladeshi expatriates the Political Specialist met during his short stay said they did not know Rahman,s whereabouts. -------------- THINKING A LOT ABOUT BANGLADESH -------------- ¶4. (SBU) In a four-hour long conversation, Rahman recounted his interrogation by army officers in December 2007 and the torture he said resulted in a damaged spine. He discussed his vision for achieving a prosperous Bangladesh but spoke bitterly of what he described as the media campaigns against him. He rejected as &unreal8 the landslide Awami League victory in the December 2008 elections for Parliament. ¶5. (SBU) Rahman, who gave up his position as BNP senior joint secretary general as a condition of his release, avoided comment on the opposition party,s internal politics and said he had no plans to return to Bangladesh for the time being. He gave no hint as to when he might return. When asked what role he might want to play in the BNP, he replied: &No one is indispensable. Someone or some others will come up to work if there is a void. Neither the BNP nor the country is mine alone,8 he added. He once referred to himself during the conversation as &an ex-politician.8 Rahman did not say much about his mother, opposition leader Khaleda Zia, except to regret the fact her sons and grandchildren all were abroad. -------------- RAHMAN NAMES AN ALLEGED TORTURER -------------- ¶6. (C) Returning to his arrest on what he said were &flimsy grounds8 and the physical abuse resulting in his disability, Rahman identified Brig. Gen. Fazlul Bari Chowdhury, the outgoing Bangladesh defense attache in Washington D.C., as one of his torturers and offered to testify against him. (Note: Rahman,s family previously alleged Lt. Gen. Masud Uddin Chowdhury, now Bangladesh High Commissioner to Australia, had inspected the scene to make sure officers were actually beating Rahman. Ironically, Bari and Masud were considered ardent BNP supporters. End note.) -------------- COMMENT: RAHMAN STILL IN THE PICTURE -------------- ¶7. (C) Despite his seeming nonchalance, there can be little doubt that Rahman remains a powerful political force. His DHAKA 00000485 002 OF 002 many supporters within the BNP unsuccessfully lobbied for him to run in a Parliamentary by-election in April; Khaleda Zia apparently felt it was too early to have her son return. The BNP continues to function primarily as Khaleda Zia,s personal fiefdom, making her eldest son her natural successor. BNP stalwarts also are keenly aware of Rahman,s proven organizational skills, which will be indispensible the next time the party faces off against Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina,s Awami League. Despite his current exile, there can be little doubt that Rahman could perhaps one day lead Bangladesh. PASI