VZCZCXYZ0000
RR RUEHWEB

DE RUEHKA #2503/01 1201151
ZNY CCCCC ZZH
R 301151Z APR 06
FM AMEMBASSY DHAKA
TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC 7470
INFO RUEHNE/AMEMBASSY NEW DELHI 9076
RUEHLM/AMEMBASSY COLOMBO 7414
RUEHIL/AMEMBASSY ISLAMABAD 1098
RUEHLO/AMEMBASSY LONDON 1436

C O N F I D E N T I A L DHAKA 002503 
 
SIPDIS 
 
SIPDIS 
 
E.O. 12958: DECL: 04/30/2011 
TAGS: PREL PGOV BG
SUBJECT: AMBASSADOR'S COURTESY CALL ON AWAMI LEAGUE 
PRESIDENT HASINA 
 
 
Classified By: A/DCM D.C. McCullough, reason para 1.5 D. 
 
¶1. (C) Summary.  Hasina stated she "wants" to participate in 
elections but major changes are necessary to ensure a free 
and fair process.  She credited foreign pressure for the 
capture of JMB leaders, and reiterated her view that the most 
senior levels of the BNP were behind the 2004 grenade attack 
on her.  Her political secretary expressed concern that 
Islamists and others will be "activated" to attack Hasina and 
the AL during the election campaign.  End Summary. 
 
¶2. (SBU) On April 28, Ambassador paid a one-hour courtesy 
call on Awami League president Sheikh Hasina.  AL Secretary 
General Abdul Jalil, Political Secretary Saber Hussain 
Chowdhury, two other AL officials, and P/E counselor 
(notetaker) were also present. 
 
¶3. (SBU) Ambassador apologized to Hasina for having had to 
postpone their meeting from the evening before after bad 
weather forced a delay in the Ambassador's return from 
Chittagong, where she had accompanied retired American 
General Hank Stackpole on a visit commemorating the 15th 
anniversary of Operation Sea Angel.  Hasina confirmed that 
Stackpole is still fondly remembered by Bangladeshis, and 
commented that the BNP government in 1991 had denied the true 
scale of the cyclone disaster until the AL began delivering 
relief supplies to the affected areas.  "They still don't 
know how to govern," she added. 
 
¶4. (C) Turning to elections, the Ambassador reiterated that 
the USG wants a successful and democratic process, but it 
does not, contrary to some local speculation, support the 
BNP's re-election, or any other party for that matter. 
"That's my personal assurance to you," the Ambassador said. 
Elections should be free and fair, Hasina replied and then 
reviewed the origins of election rigging during the military 
rule of Generals Zia and Ershad.  She positively contrasted 
her government's performance on economic and other fronts to 
the current BNP administration's record of price hikes, power 
shortages, and corruption.  She asserted her party remains 
true to its roots as servants of the people, and disdains the 
politics of "black money" and "muscle men."  "We don't nurse 
these bad elements," she stated.  Referring to the BNP, she 
charged, "They just want to stay in power to enjoy their 
illegal money." 
 
¶5. (C) Asked if she would participate in the next election, 
Hasina replied: "We want to participate."  She then made her 
case for reconstituting the Electoral Commission as a "truly 
neutral body" and her other demands for caretaker government 
and electoral changes.  The Ambassador congratulated Hasina 
for challenging BNP to match AL's commitment to make 
financial disclosure statements for its parliamentary 
candidates, and suggested that this could be part of an 
enhanced electoral code of conduct.  Hasina had no 
substantive response. 
 
¶6. (C) Hasina asserted that the BDG had arrested Bangla Bhai 
and Abdur Rahman only in response to U.S. and other 
international pressure.  Ambassador interjected that there 
appeared to be significant local political pressure as well. 
All seven members of JMB's senior leadership council, Hasina 
resumed, had links to Jamaat Islami's notorious student wing, 
Chhatra Shibir.  She dismissed JI as a "terrorist party," and 
while JI and the AL had previously sat together in opposition 
to the BNP, she stoutly denied the parties had ever had any 
kind of partnership or understanding.  She alleged that, as 
part of JI's infiltration of the police, civil service, and 
the military, madrassah alumni now constitute 35 percent of 
army troops.  Political Secretary Chowdhury insisted the 
figure for new officers is even higher. 
 
¶7. (C) The Ambassador assured Hasina that the USG continues 
to press the BDG to prevent and solve crimes of political 
violence, including the 2004 attack on her and her leadership 
at a Dhaka rally and also the assassination of Shah Kibria. 
Hasina and Saber Chowdhury repeated their view that the 2004 
grenade attack involved elements of JI and the Prime 
Minister's son, Tarique Rahman.  "It is hard for us to 
believe that the prime minister herself did not have 
knowledge of this attack and the cover-up," Saber asserted. 
He expressed concern about the likelihood of new attacks on 
Hasina and the AL as the election approaches, and feared that 
Islamists and members of the Rapid Action Battalion will be 
"activated" to attack them once the campaign starts.  "Only 
God will give me security," Hasina said. 
 
¶8. (C) Comment: While it is easy to discount many of Hasina's 
statements as self-serving or flat out wrong, concerns about 
 
her safety are much harder to dismiss. 
 
CHAMMAS