US embassy cable - 05DHAKA2798

C O N F I D E N T I A L DHAKA 002798 
 
SIPDIS 
 
E.O. 12958: DECL: 06/15/2015 
TAGS: PGOV, PTER, PHUM, BG, BG Terrorism 
SUBJECT: NEW ALLEGATIONS OF AL INVOLVEMENT IN THE AUGUST 21 
GRENADE ATTACK 
 
 
Classified By: Polcouns D.C. McCullough for reason para 1.5d 
 
1. (SBU) After months of silence, new accusations have 
exploded over the August 21 grenade attack on the leadership 
of the opposition Awami League (AL) that killed 23 persons. 
 
2. (SBU) At a June 13 press conference, AL president Sheikh 
Hasina, who has apparently lost complete hearing in one ear 
and partial hearing in the other, elaborated on her 
previously general allegations of BNP complicity to assert 
that the Prime Minister, her son and heir apparent Tarique 
Rahman, Home Minister of State Babar, Civil Aviation Minister 
of State Nassiruddin, and PMO Parliamentary Affairs Advisor 
S.Q. Chowdhury organized the attack by "at least 50 
criminals" in cahoots with the police. 
 
3. (SBU) Citing an AL investigation, she stated: "After the 
attack, the criminals, who were earlier given training at 
Dewanganj in Jamalpur, went for Singair in Natore where a 
petrol pump owner gave them shelter.  Piror to the attack, 
they held a series of meetings at Thanthonia Bazar in Bogra." 
In addition: "I have heard that four persons wearing veil 
offloaded a consignment of arms from a tinted jeep in 
Tarique's in law's residence at Dhanmondi on the night of 
August 20.  The arms were used in the attack on the Awami 
League rally."  She alleged that police fired tear gas after 
the attack to provide cover for the fleeing assailants. 
 
4. (SBU) In parliament, BNP MP's subsequently blamed "AL 
extremists" for the attack, challenged the legitimacy of the 
AL investigation, and denounced Hasina for "conspiring to 
destabilize the BNP-led government" with the help of a 
neighboring country.  BNP State Minister for Youth and Sports 
Fazlur Rahman accused Hasina of implicating BNP leaders to 
"divert public attention" from her own party's involvement in 
the attack.  "It is Awami League men who do harm to their 
party men," he said.  "Awami League men killed their leader 
Sheikh Mujib in 1975."  On June 14. Local Government Minister 
Abdul Mannan Bhuiyan, often the moderate public face of the 
BNP, criticized the AL for spreading lies about the August 21 
attack. 
 
5. (C) On June 14, Babar claimed to us that the BDG has 
identified the individuals involved in the August 21 attack, 
but acknowledged there is no concrete evidence of "direct" 
involvement by AL leaders.  According to Babar, and media 
reports on June 15, the BDG has invited Interpol to return to 
Bangladesh to follow up on this new information.  Babar has 
requested a private meeting with Ambassador to discuss the 
matter further. 
 
6. (C) Comment: It is unclear what triggered this new 
exchange of accusations and BDG interest in the August 21 
attack.  Hasina's allegations at least have the virtue of 
being consistent with what she has been privately saying 
since last year.  The police investigation of the attack had 
closed and its investigators were re-assigned, so there is 
speculation that any new information might have come from the 
interrogation of Arman, a major criminal recently arrested by 
the Rapid Action Battalion  and who some predicted would soon 
be "cross-fired."  The official BDG inquiry, which was never 
released, concluded that India was behind the attack but 
acted without AL knowledge.  With BNP members having been 
tagged for the murder of AL MP's Ahsanullah Master and Shah 
Kibria, the BDG may hope to dilute the political impact by 
reverting to its original stance after August 21 that the AL 
attacked itself. 
THOMAS