VZCZCXRO4880
RR RUEHCI
DE RUEHKA #1526 0790951
ZNR UUUUU ZZH
R 200951Z MAR 06
FM AMEMBASSY DHAKA
TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC 6257
INFO RUEHIL/AMEMBASSY ISLAMABAD 1039
RUEHLM/AMEMBASSY COLOMBO 7361
RUEHKT/AMEMBASSY KATHMANDU 8450
RUEHNE/AMEMBASSY NEW DELHI 8969
RUEHCI/AMCONSUL CALCUTTA

UNCLAS DHAKA 001526 
 
SIPDIS 
 
SENSITIVE 
SIPDIS 
 
E.O. 12958: N/A 
TAGS: PHUM BG
SUBJECT: MEETING WITH JOURNALIST SALAHUDDIN SHOAIB CHOWDHURY 
 
¶1.  On March 16, poloff met with journalist Salahuddin Shoaib 
Chowdhury at his request to discuss his 2003 arrest for 
attempted travel to Israel and his still-pending sedition 
charges.  As a condition of his bail, Chowdhury's passport 
has been confiscated by the home ministry. 
 
¶2.  Chowdhury stated that State Minister for Home Affairs 
Lutfuzzaman Babar recently told him that he will get his 
passport back if he first provides a copy of his remarks for 
the award dinner he hopes to attend in New York to ensure 
that there would be no embarrassment to the BDG.  Chowdhury 
said he has refused to submit his remarks for censorship, but 
still believes that his passport may be returned at a 
scheduled March 21 court hearing.  He requested USG support 
for his case. 
 
¶3.  Chowdhury then commented on recent political developments 
and the rise of Islamic extremism in Bangladesh.  He showed 
poloff a printout of a Microsoft Word document that he had 
created.  In a regular typeface, he had written "JMB," 
"SHAIKH ABDUR RAHMAN" (leader of the JMB), "BANGLA BHAI" 
(alias of the JMJB leader), and "SHEIKH HASINA" (leader of 
the opposition).  He then showed what each of these names 
looked like when he changed the font to Wingdings or 
Webdings.  JMB becomes a smiley face, a bomb with a lit fuse, 
and a hand making the "OK" symbol.  This indicates, he said, 
that JMB is happy and thought everything was fine when bombs 
went off around the country last year.  In his interpretation 
of the symbols for Bangla Bhai, he highlighted a columned 
building that he claimed was clearly the U.S. Supreme Court 
and surrounded by an eye and a magnifying glass, indicating 
the attention the USG is paying to his case.  He pointed to 
what looked like a crane, and said that it was a gallows, 
foretelling Bangla Bhai's eventual fate, and the beach scene 
at the end that foretold the peaceful future in store for 
Bangladesh after the hanging.  Chowdhury did not give his 
interpretations for the other names. 
 
¶4.  Chowdhury talked about the upcoming elections.  If an 
election is held in 2007, he stated, the BNP/Islamist 
coalition will win because of their financial resources 
derived from Islami Bank's laundering of "Afro-Arabian 
donations."  Sheikh Hasina, he claimed, is aware that her 
Awami League cannot win the election, so she is using the 
issue of election reform as a pretext for a boycott.  It 
makes little difference to him, he said, which party wins 
since their policies are so similar and so ineffective.  What 
Bangladesh needs is to put aside the trappings of democracy 
and to allow a beneficent dictator take control.  Only a 
dictator, who does not need to worry about the JI and IOJ 
votebanks can rid the country of Islamic extremism, he said. 
 
¶5.  Chowdhury stated that the arrest of Bangla Bhai was a 
staged performance since his face was too well-known for him 
to have hidden in the country for months without being 
recognized.  He believes Bangla Bhai was given safe haven by 
the State Minister for Public Works, but he had no evidence 
to support that statement, other than the fact that they are 
from the same home district. 
 
¶6.  (SBU) Note: State Home Minister Babar confirmed to us 
that he has spoken with Chowdhury and that Chowdhury is 
likely to regain his passport. 
CHAMMAS