This record is a partial extract of the original cable. The full text of the original cable is not available.

C O N F I D E N T I A L DHAKA 001142 
 
SIPDIS 
 
E.O. 12958: DECL: 3/14/2015 
TAGS: PREL PTER KCRM BG BG
SUBJECT: ALLEGED KIBRIA KILLER ARRESTED WITH THREE 
ACCOMPLICES 
 
REF: A. DHAKA 0906 
 
     ¶B. DHAKA 0810 
 
Classified By: P/E  Counselor D.C. McCullough, reason 1.4 d 
 
¶1. (SBU) On March 9, police formally arrested four persons in 
connection with the January 27 murder of former Awami League 
finance minister Shah AMS Kibria according to local press 
reports and other sources.  The chief suspect is AKM Abdul 
Qayyum, a BNP leader in Habiganj, where Kibria was killed. 
The three other suspects -- M. Jamin Ali, Zainal Abedin 
Momin, and Tajul Islam -- reportedly confessed to their 
involvement with the grenade attack and provided the names of 
other accomplices. 
 
¶2. (C) On March 14, Nazli Kibria, daughter of the slain AL 
leader, told us that her family is "not satisfied" with the 
arrests, noting that the prime suspect, Qayyum, did not make 
a confession in front of the magistrate as did the three 
other accused.  Even if Qayyum confessed, she said, he is 
only the grenade thrower.  She identified GK Gaus, general 
secretary of the district BNP, as the probable instigator of 
 
SIPDIS 
the attack.  According to Kibria, Gaus was in London at the 
time of the attack, but was arrested during Operation Clean 
Heart in 2002 after he was found with a stockpile of weapons; 
however, he was released on the order of Finance Minister, 
and Sylheti, Saifur Rahman. 
 
¶3. (C)  Qayyum, Ali, and Momin were included in the list of 
six detained suspects provided to us by the BDG on February 
10 (ref a).  Islam was not.  On the list, there is no mention 
of Qayyum's BNP affiliation.  He was detained, it said, 
because "He was found to be very ambitious and his movement 
in the area before and after the occurrence was very 
suspicious." 
 
¶4. (C) Comment: The Kibria case has taken several strange 
turns.  Perhaps bending to strong international and domestic 
pressure, the BDG may have decided it has to "solve" the 
case, but whether these suspects are tried, much less 
convicted, before the next election is another matter.  It is 
notable, though, that the Kibria family is not saying that 
the BDG has simply rounded up the usual suspects; its focus 
is instead on arguing, logically, that others complicit in 
the attack are yet to be caught.  Also notable is that senior 
BDG officials have moved from initially suggesting the attack 
was an internal Awami League dispute to blaming local BNP 
officials who they insist acted without the knowledge or 
concurrence of national BNP leaders.  Nevertheless, 
speculation, apparently endorsed by PMO Principal Secretary 
Siddiqui (septel), is building that PMO Political Secretary 
Harris Chowdhury is tied to and has protected Qayyum.  The 
subdued follow-up press reporting on the arrests is also 
peculiar, given the sensational nature of the case.  The BDG 
may be pressuring the press to downplay the story, or the 
muted response among Bangladeshis in general may reflect 
their cynicism that the BDG has actually broken the mold and 
arrested the "right" people.  If the BDG's position becomes 
that it has solved the case, it is unclear if it will drop 
its request for FBI help in the investigation. 
THOMAS