VZCZCXRO8122
PP RUEHCI
DE RUEHKA #1108/01 0640832
ZNR UUUUU ZZH
P 050832Z MAR 06
FM AMEMBASSY DHAKA
TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC PRIORITY 5765
INFO RUEHIL/AMEMBASSY ISLAMABAD 0996
RUEHNE/AMEMBASSY NEW DELHI 8925
RUEHLM/AMEMBASSY COLOMBO 7330
RUEHLO/AMEMBASSY LONDON 1390
RUEHKT/AMEMBASSY KATHMANDU 8414
RUEHCI/AMCONSUL CALCUTTA
RHHMUNA/CDR USPACOM HONOLULU HI
RUEKDIA/DIA WASHDC
RHHMUNA/USCINCPAC HONOLULU HI

UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 02 DHAKA 001108 
 
SIPDIS 
 
SENSITIVE 
SIPDIS 
 
E.O. 12958: N/A 
TAGS: PREL PTER PGOV BG
SUBJECT: CONGRESSMAN CROWLEY MEETS AWAMI LEAGUE LEADERS 
 
¶1. (SBU) Summary. Congressman Joseph Crowley met with Awami 
League (AL) leader Sheikh Hasina, with several AL members and 
embassy officials.  Hasina and others said the international 
community and election monitors need to better understand the 
election situation in Bangladesh, perhaps by arriving well in 
advance of elections.  Hassina accused the BNP/JI of 
supporting international and JMB led domestic terrorism, and 
complained of an already politicized election process. 
Congessman Crowley discussed the legislative status of draft 
US legislation on duty free access for all goods from 
Bangladesh and pressed for action on corruption issues.  End 
Summary. 
 
¶2. (U) On February 22, Congressman Joe Crowley met with Awami 
League and opposition leader Sheikh Hasina. Also present were 
the AL's General Secretary Abdul Jalil, Faruk Ahmed 
Chowdhury, Dr. Mahmud Hassa, and Dr. Muhiuddin Khan Alamgir. 
Robin Roizman, professional staff member on the Committee on 
International Relations, Charge d'Affaires, control officer, 
and poloff (notetaker) were also present for the one hour 
meeting. 
 
¶3. (SBU) Crowley congratulated Hasina on returning to 
Parliament.  Hasina replied saying that the AL has always 
wanted to return, but it was only thanks to attendance by the 
CDA and other foreign diplomats at her return session that 
she was able to speak freely in Parliament.  She promised to 
remain so as not to give the government an excuse for not 
discussing the AL's election reform proposals.  Hasina 
continued saying that the international community does not 
really understand the situation here in Bangladesh, and asked 
Crowley, rhetorically, "how many of your Party members have 
been killed" for supporting their party.  She recounted the 
August 21, 2004 grenade attacks, accussing the BNP/Jamaat 
Islami government for sponsoring the attack, saying that "JI 
is primarily behind it." Hasina and others accused BNP/JI of 
using black (illegally earned) money to support its terror 
and voter intimidation programs, citing several examples of 
violence against ordinary AL voters following the last 
election.  She accusse 
d the Prime Minister's son, Tarique Rahman, of recently 
meeting with both Italian Mafiosi and Dubai underworld leader 
Daud Ibrahim to improve his torture and intimidation 
techniques. 
 
¶4. (SBU) Hasina and others lambasted the voter registration 
process.  They repeated their position that the voter list 
should be updated, rather than created anew.  They complained 
about the polilticization of the process, from the Election 
Commission down through the use of party activists as 
enumerators to conduct the voter registration drive, She 
complained of selective registration, saying the registration 
process is flawed because "its easy to discriminate as 
everyone knows who supports what party."  As evidence of the 
politicization of the Election Commission, she cited its 
refusal to accept a High Court decision that the EC should 
only update old lists rather than make new lists. (Comment: 
The actual court decision had language supporting both the 
AL's and the BNP's positions.  End comment)  Hassina asked 
for the international community to take note of all this and 
to provide a strong presence in Bangladesh well in advance of 
the elections and "not simply the day of the election." The 
AL leaders compla 
ined that the recent surge in prices of basic commodities was 
simply a BNP/JI effort to earn additional funds for their 
pre-election coffers.  On JMB, Hasina and others alleged that 
the bombers had to have BNP/JI cooperation in order to 
detonate the 500 bombs across the country.  Arguing the BDG 
continues to protect JMB, she said no arrested JMB member has 
been the victim of an extrajudicial killing, while "minor 
criminals are killed" as a rule. 
 
¶5. (SBU) Crowley accepted the statements asking for 
additional international community involvement in the 
elections, informed Hassina of the difficulty in passing 
legislation on duty free access for Bangladesh garments, and 
pressed for movement on corruption. On the voter registration 
issue, Crowley probed for information on how the draft lists 
might be reviewed and what role the AL would play in 
correcting the lists before they became final.  Hassina 
acknowledged that the AL would have an opportunity to review 
the lists and propose corrections, additions and revisions, 
but seemed to dismiss this opportunity as beyond the manpower 
 
DHAKA 00001108  002 OF 002 
 
 
capacity of the alliance.  Despite the difficulties, Crowley 
urged Hassina to take advantage of all legal means for 
ensuring registration of her party's supporters, saying the 
goal should be the registration of all legally eligible 
voters. 
 
¶6. (U) This cable was cleared by Representative Crowley. 
CHAMMAS