US embassy cable - 05DHAKA1308

C O N F I D E N T I A L DHAKA 001308 
 
SIPDIS 
 
SENSITIVE 
VISAS VIPER 
 
DEPT FOR INR/IC/TIPOFF AND CA/VO/L/C 
 
E.O. 12958: DECL: 03/21/2015 
TAGS: KVPR, CVIS, PTER, PINR, ASEC, Visas Viper 
SUBJECT: DHAKA VISAS VIPER REPORT - MARCH 2005 
 
 
1. (C) Post's Visas Viper committee met on March 22, 2005. 
The committee discussed the addition of several leaders of 
two radical Islamic groups into the VISAS VIPER program. 
 
2. (U) The government of Bangladesh has recently banned two 
radical Islamic groups, the Jamaatul Mujahideen Bangladesh 
(JMB) and the Jagrata Muslim Janata Bangaldesh (JMJB). 
Police have arrested several leaders of the JMB, and there is 
an outstanding arrest warrant for the leader of the JMJB. 
The JMB has been implicated in a series of bombings and 
attacks on targets considered to be non-Islamic and advocates 
the establishment of an Islamic government in Bangladesh. 
Bangladeshi authorities have also frozen the bank accounts of 
the Ahle Hadith Andolon Bangladesh (AHAB), an organization 
headed by the most well-known leader of the JMB, Dr. Muhammad 
Asadullah al Galib.  The JMJB has similar goals and the group 
is widely believed to be behind a large number of attacks on 
targets considered to be anti-Islamic or un-Islamic in the 
western region of Bangladesh. Both organizations are linked 
to the Ahle Hadith movement, an organization with branches 
across South Asia. 
 
3. (C) The leaders of JMB and JMJB are widely rumored to have 
close ties with Islamic groups in other countries.  Post is 
continuing to collect biographic information on the leaders 
of these organizations and information on the organizations, 
their activities and possible links to Islamic groups in 
other countries. 
 
4. (U) The meeting was chaired by DCM Judith A. Chammas. 
Acting Consular Section Chief Robert J. Jachim served as 
Visas Viper committee coordinator. 
 
THOMAS