BANGLADESH SCENESETTER FOR LTG FRIDOVICH, BG BOERA

S E C R E T SECTION 01 OF 03 DHAKA 000069

SIPDIS

FOR LTG FRIDOVIC, BG BOERA AND COL WHITE FROM THE AMBASSADOR

E.O. 12958: DECL: 01/19/2019
TAGS: PGOV PTER KREL BG
SUBJECT: BANGLADESH SCENESETTER FOR LTG FRIDOVICH, BG BOERA
AND COL WHITE

Classified By: Ambassador James F. Moriarty. Reasons: 1.4 (b) and (d)

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SUMMARY
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1. (SBU) USG activities in Bangladesh are based on three
pillars: democratization, development and denial of space to
terrorists. Your visit comes at a critical juncture for U.S.
relations with this strategically important, moderate,
Muslim-majority nation of 150 million people. The new
government led by Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina swept to power
in Parliamentary elections on December 29 and is beginning to
flesh out its policies on issues of great importance to the
USG. In your meetings with civilian and military leaders you
will be able to emphasize USG eagerness to work with the new
government on a whole range of issues, including expanding
cooperation to improve Bangladesh's counterterrorism and
military capabilities.

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DEMOCRACY
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2. (U) Sheikh Hasna's Awami League won a landslide victory
in Parliamentary elections December 29 after two years of
rule by an appointed Caretaker Government whose mandate was
to prepare for elections. During its tenure, the Caretaker
Government cracked down on endemic political corruption and
violence, and at one point imprisoned on graft allegations
both Hasina and her main political rival, Bangladesh
Nationalist Party (BNP) Chairperson Khaleda Zia. Both were
released to participate in the elections, which won wide
acclaim for being the cleanest and most peaceful in
Bangladesh's 38-year history.


3. (SBU) Prime Minister Hasina appointed a Cabinet notable
for the absence of most of the party's Old Guard, including
many politicians tainted by allegations of graft and
violence, in favor of Ministers who are fiercely loyal to
her. The huge landslide win will test her promise to break
from the country's past "winner-take-all" politics and allow
the opposition a meaningful voice in government. While the
Awami League has offered to fill the post of deputy speaker
of Parliament with a BNP lawmaker, it seems bent on
destroying the country's main Islamist party,
Jamaat-e-Islami. Hasina's party has threatened to try Jamaat
leaders as war criminals for their activities in support of
Pakistan during the 1971 war of independence. It also is
considering banning religious-based parties such as Jamaat.

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DENIAL OF SPACE TO TERRORISTS
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4. (C) Bangladesh is a nation with porous borders -- air,
land and maritime -- that make it an attractive transit point
and safe-haven for terrorists. India in particular argues
that international Islamic terrorists use Bangladesh as a
safe haven and often cross into India for bombing and other
attacks. New Delhi also says Dhaka should do more to uproot
Indian domestic extremist groups, including the United
Liberation Front of Assam, that India claims use Bangladesh
as a safe haven. Sheikh Hasina has made clear that fighting
extremists and improving regional counterterrorism
cooperation would be a top priority for her administration.
She has proposed creating a South Asia security task force;
Embassy Dhaka wants to support those efforts, in part by
funding regional security dialogues organized by prominent
local think tanks.


5. (S/NF) To counter the transnational terrorist threat,
Embassy Dhaka has recommended USG support for the creation of
a Bangladesh Navy Special Operations Force, similar to US
SEAL and Special Boat units. The Government of Bangladesh
intends this unit to be a counterterrorism force that will
address critical gaps in Bangladesh's maritime security
capability. Transnational violent extremist organizations
(such as Interagency Intelligence Committee on Terrorism
(IICT) priority one Lashkar-e-Tayyiba and IICT priority three
Hizbul Mujhadin),transnational crime, drugs and human
trafficking are currently exploiting these gaps to facilitate
operations throughout South Asia. USG support for the
creation of this new force is critical to denying space to
terrorists. Additionally, Lashkar-e-Tayyiba is actively
developing a maritime capability in order to infiltrate

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India; Bangladesh is a particularly attractive maritime
launching point for such infiltration efforts.


6. (C) The USG already funds many other programs in
Bangladesh to counter terrorism, including a wide range of
training under the Anti-Terrorist Assistance program
coordinated by the State Department. USAID and Public
Affairs Section programs address root causes of extremism
through outreach to leaders of influence (including religious
figures) and to madrassas. The USG also has started training
the Rapid Action Battalion (RAB),whose history of alleged
human rights violations prevented earlier engagement. The
number of people reportedly killed in gun battles with RAB
has decreased significantly since mid-2007, and the initial
U.S. training is designed to further improve RAB's human
rights record. Although some Awami League leaders view the
RAB with suspicion because it was established by the rival
Bangladesh Nationalist Party, the RAB has become the
country's most effective counterterrorism force and is best
positioned to one day become a Bangladeshi version of the
U.S. Federal Bureau of Investigation. In your meetings with
civilian leaders, you should stress the initial success of
USG human rights engagement with RAB and the importance of
continued training to ensure the RAB plays an effective,
responsible role in the war against extremism.


7. (C) Your meeting with Chief of Army Staff Gen Moeen Uddin
Ahmed will provide an opportunity to raise not only
counterterrorism cooperation but also the importance of
further professionalization of the Bangladesh military.
Bangladesh is a top contributor to international peacekeeping
operations and continued military-to-military cooperation
between our two countries will help ensure Bangledeshi troops
perform well as peacekeepers. In meetings with Moeen and
other military and civilian leaders you should discuss the
need for maintaining good relations between the civilian
government and armed forces. Civil-military relations were
poor during the last Awami League government in 1996-2001,
which ended up limiting Hasina's scope for action.
Discussions are underway within Hasina's administration over
possible reforms to improve the structure for making national
security decisions.

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DEVELOPMENT
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8. (U) Your visit will come just days after the "America
Week" program to promote bilateral relations in Barisal
Division, which bore the brunt of Cyclone Sidr in November

2007. The cyclone killed thousands of people, destroyed the
homes and livelihoods of millions, and left 2.3 billion USD
of damage to infrastructure. As part of an interagency
effort, the U.S. military played a crucial role in relief
efforts by airlifting vitally needed water, food and
emergency supplies to Bangladeshis in remote areas. However,
the Government of Bangladesh and other international donors
have not sustained the strong levels of assistance provided
in Sidr's immediate aftermath, and millions of victims remain
in need of aid to rebuild their lives. The 6.5 million USD
budgeted by the Department of Defense for building cyclone
shelters and schools in the affected areas thus is most
welcome. This effort will dovetail nicely with plans for
spending some 75 million USD in USAID funding appropriated by
Congress for post-Sidr relief.

9, (SBU) On top of natural disasters, inflation --
particularly of food prices -- remains dangerously high for
Bangladeshis, 86 percent of whom subsist on less than $2 a
day. (Note: The Awami League promised in its campaign to make
fighting inflation its top priority; prices for basic
commodities such as rice skyrocketed during the Caretaker
Government. End note.) Our assistance levels remain high --
some 150 million USD last year. More important, economic
growth, fueled by ready-made garment exports, has surpassed
6% annually over the past six years.

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YOUR VISIT
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10. (C) Thank you for making the effort to come to
Bangladesh. The visit will highlight the importance the USG
places on working constructively with Bangladesh on a wide
range of issues. You will be meeting officials of a new
government who are grappling with hugely important issues

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such as how to improve regional counterterrorism cooperation
and how to strengthen Bangladesh's own counterterrorism
capabilities and civilian-military relations. Your visit will
provide a unique opportunity to encourage the new government
in this work and assure leading officials that the USG will
continue a wide range of assistance in these and other
critical areas.
MORIARTY