WIKILEAKS EXPOSÉ: Bangladesh
WikiLeaks cables on Bangladesh
Aladin
Photo: Andrew Atkinson (2008)
More than 250 embassies. More than a quarter of a million cables obtained and unleashed on the internet by WikiLeaks. The revelations sent shockwaves throughout the diplomatic world. The exposes embarrassed kings and courtiers, presidents and prime ministers, monks and ministers.
The US government and its vast army of diplomats had swung into damage control mode long before the flood-gates themselves were opened at the end of November, releasing myriads of cables confidently emblazoned ‘SECRET’.
In a world exclusive, Bangladesh’s first online newspaper presents the cables obtained by bdnews24.com Editor Emeritus aladin in London.
PRELUDE
So finally – the coming to light of WikiLeaks’ dossier on Bangladesh, a cache of secret US diplomatic cables relating to confidential assessments and off record exchanges about developments in the country. I have viewed and will précis these; they cover the period October-November 2008 and none other exists.
There is a particular irony to me reporting on this event for I have some personal intimacy with US-Bangladeshi/Bengali international relations.
I am American-born though I hold Bangladeshi nationality. I have attended American schools in several countries. I researched (and occasionally taught) American diplomacy - financial, economic and military - at the London School of Economics, having also graduated from there. My work today encompasses civic diplomacy.
My mother Mahfuza Fateh (nee Banu) inaugurated Bengali language news broadcasts from Washington D.C. to South Asia for the Voice of America in the 1950s. She and her friends and family apparently had to be vetted by the CIA prior to her being appointed. At the time it would be fair to say that the VOA was an adjunct to American diplomacy worldwide.
My late father Abul Fateh had unique personal experience of and insight into the complexities of American and regional, South Asian, diplomacy.
During the 1971 War of Liberation and subsequently as Bangladesh’s first Foreign Secretary he had a key role managing relations with the United States and India whilst heading the nascent country’s diplomatic service.
His American connections were already extensive: in 1949-50 he had been a Carnegie Foundation Fellow in International Peace; he was posted as a Pakistani diplomat to Washington 1956-60 (and shortly after became the founding Director of Pakistan’s Foreign Service Academy in Lahore); he was a Rockefeller Foundation Scholar and Research Fellow at Geneva’s Institut de Hautes Etudes Internationales (International Relations Institute), subsequently becoming one of Pakistan’s few Bengali ambassadors.
Shortly before the war he was also stationed in India (Delhi and Kolkata) as Pakistan’s highest ranking Bengali origin diplomat and so became an absolute repository of in-depth knowledge of the USA’s ‘secret diplomacy’ in the region; for the USA then as now was a key ally of Pakistan’s. Hence when he switched sides to Bangladesh in 1971, my father found himself re-engaging with his American colleagues but now ‘from the other side’ and with the advantage of his insider’s insight into their modus operandi.
I felt an almost forensic inclination therefore when settling in front of the freshly excavated texts in question.
On its track record of disclosures so far, Wikileaks’ Bangladesh documents too had every potential for containing spectacular, incendiary revelation. I cannot have been alone in speculating about the confidences and contacts about to be outed and in imagining the horror at this prospect amongst some of Bangladesh’s elite (the ones with skeletons in their closets).
Either way – whether you approach them gleefully or with a sinking heart – the documents make for grim reading. A treatise on Real Politik. Should we have been surprised?
Whatever embarrassments for Bangladesh’s political cadres the cables could have contained, their contents in the first instance reveal authors’ leaden pre-occupation with what is best described as American geo-strategic self interest.
The above US diplomatic cables, replete with its accounts of vigilance against putative threats, build up an unappetising profile of Bangladeshi civil society. From a wider perspective it seems almost risible the thought of a superpower secretly collecting data about the expatriate population of a small developing nation and also keeping tabs on its peacekeeping presence in Africa which it feels is propelled by less than humanitarian objectives.
The sheer monotony of focus on containing challenges to American interests does not so much paint a picture of Real Politik as it depicts a punctilious, micro-managing diplomacy which does not appear to leave much room for empathy with the indigenous context it operates in. It feels a one-dimensional narrative.
I found the cumulative effect of these cables to be dirge-like and unsettling – conveying the sense of a Bangladesh and its diaspora perpetually at odds with the mores of wider civil society. It is however important to add the caveat that ‘good’ news rarely get classified as ‘secret’; conversely it is the complex (‘bad’ news) that often pre-occupies the diplomats. We should also bear in mind that Wikileaks’ disclosures for other parts of the world similarly seem to paint unrelentingly unflattering pictures. As well, these cables cover a very brief period of two months towards the end of 2008 – perhaps other cables covering other periods would express a very different picture.
One can ponder at the opportunities for Bangladeshi diplomacy and its external relations afforded by these scant cables. Perhaps there are a few axioms one can keep in mind – my father (who was a Sufi too) mentioned these:
“Do not speak anything that you do not yourself know to be true.”
“Speak in the spirit of offering, without the need to draw attention to yourself.”
“You should stand up when it matters.”
My father worked without partisanship as a public servant throughout his long career from 1949-1983 – except during that passage in 1971 when he chose to be counted. He also had to serve under an extraordinary variety of leaders in as many different circumstances and whatever his personal views he always took great pains when describing these individuals to me, which he also did with not inconsiderable humanity. In the contemporary Bangladeshi context my father may seem anomalous but there are his equivalent across public service and public life here and abroad.
It goes without saying that some of the most outstanding diplomatic interventions go unrecorded – including in the Wikileaks cables. Society needs its public servants and we need to blow their trumpets from time to time and not scapegoat the messenger. While Wikileaks does not quite qualify as a recruiting sergeant to the cause – it does remind us of the importance of inculcating a strong culture of public service.
HIGHLIGHTS
Seven items afford cases in point and make for some uncomfortable reading. They relate to direct or indirect USA-Bangladesh interactions over:
1- The establishment of the IDP.
2- Criminal and other threats to USA interests.
3- The allegedly terrorist-front, Kuwaiti origin RIHS charity.
4- French government immigration service piloting of DNA testing in Bangladesh
5- Richard Holbrooke ascertaining Saudi cognizance of Bangladeshi terrorist networks.
6- Forecasting Muslim, including Bangladeshi, population growth in the UK.
7- Characterising Bangladeshi peacekeeping as influence-building needing to be monitored.
The establishment of the IDP
COMMENTARY : This cable notes that a Bangladeshi security agency actively/covertly condoned the development of Islamic Democratic Party as an offshoot of the terrorist-labelled Harakat-ul-Jihad-al-Islami Bangladesh. It notes US Embassy opposition to the moves and also differing/conflicting Bangladeshi agencies’ assessments of threats against US interests. It could be seen as depicting a lack of co-ordination between agencies of the Bangladesh government and revealing of naivete/poor judgement in relation to a Bangladesh government agency supporting the development of a purportedly terrorist-linked political group. The analysis adds – as if to reassure US interests about the propriety of the Bangladeshi mainstream – that the majority of the population wishes that the leaders of the Awami League and BNP be freely able to take part in upcoming elections.
“The IDP is a nascent political party formed by senior members of the Islamic terrorist group Harakat-ul-Jihad-i-Islami Bangladesh (HUJI-B). Bangladesh,s Directorate General of Forces Intelligence (DGFI) supported the formation of the IDP as a way to bring HUJI-B into the mainstream and reported it tightly monitored the group,s activities; U.S. Embassy Dhaka strongly opposed the creation of the IDP. [Believes] the party may respond with violence possibly against U.S. Mission or interests. HUJI-B, entirely plausible the group is pursuing the creation of a political wing to improve its ability to support and carry out terrorist activity. A late-September assessment from Bangladesh,s National Security Intelligence Organization (NSI) voiced concern that the party,s creation would free extremists to pursue extremist activity under the cover of a moderate front organization”
“Analysis from the DoS, Office of Research noted the majority of Bangladeshis want Awami League and Bangladesh National Party leaders Sheikh Hasina and Khaleda Zia to participate in the December elections.”
“HUJI-B,s current membership likely does retain the ability to manufacture and use explosives the group has publicly articulated its anti-Western and -Indian stance”
“In regards to HUJI-B,s capabilities, DGFI,s, Rapid Action Battalion,s (RAB,s), and NSI,s assessments vary significantly.”
“Following the early-March U.S. designation of HUJI-B as a foreign terrorist organization, RAB assessed HUJI-B would not respond with violence due to the severe degradation of the group,s capability and leadership structure from arrests and active surveillance. DGFI likewise reported HUJI-B was &an organization on the run8 and that it did not pose a threat to U.S. interests in Bangladesh”
“NSI conversely assessed HUJI-B would react violently to the designation and would attempt to conduct an attack against the U.S. official presence in Dhaka”
Criminal and other threats to USA interests
COMMENTARY: This item notes unspecified ‘pressure’ US officials placed on the Bangladesh government in relation to protecting US personnel and interests in Dhaka. Unspecified ‘threat letters’ are referred to; it is not clear whether these are seen as terrorist or wider criminal-related.
“U.S. Embassy Dhaka officials met with the secretary of Home Affairs to discuss concerns over an uptick in crimes directed against foreigners in Dhaka's Diplomatic Enclave; threat letters were sent to several diplomatic missions. Post officials will keep pressure on the GoB to provide adequate security to the U.S. Mission”
The allegedly terrorist-front, Kuwaiti origin RIHS charity
COMMENTARY : This item expresses concern over the operation in Bangladesh of the Kuwait-based charity the Revival of Islamic Heritage Society which is depicted as having terrorism and money-laundering connections. It also depicts an apparent contradiction between US officials believing its operations to have ceased and evidence that in fact the Bangladesh government had authorised an extension of its operations. An inference could be drawn from the item that Bangladesh government officials somehow could not be relied upon.
“Patrick O'Brien met with senior GOK officials on anti-money laundering and counter-terrorism finance (AML/CTF) issues. He conveyed USG concerns about the activities of the Kuwait-based charity the Revival of Islamic Heritage Society (RIHS), specifically the activities of branches including in Bangladesh. O'Brien described enforcement actions taken by the governments of Bangladesh and others against RIHS branch offices. He added that the USG is working with foreign governments that have RIHS branches of concern to gather additional evidence and pass to the GOK.”
“Bangladesh: xxxxxxxxxxxx asserted that USG charges are different from those of the GOB. "The USG non-paper said RIHS' accounts were frozen while in reality the Bangladesh NGO Office renewed RIHS' registration for another 5 years in November 2006," he stated. He added that the GOK has been told RIHS projects in Bangladesh are going well. (Note: the two issues are separate, and restrictions on RIHS Bangladesh's bank accounts should merit more concern by the GOK. The government of Bangladesh canceled RIHS's license on May 18”
French government immigration service piloting of DNA testing in Bangladesh
COMMENTARY : The news of the piloting of DNA testing in Bangladesh for French immigration management purposes raises questions about any negotiations which may have taken place between the two governments including any subsequent ‘deal’ to allow France to undertake the trial.
Classified By: Political Minister-Counselor Kathleen Allegrone, Another part of Sarkozy’s immigration policy -- the program to test DNA to verify kinship as a basis for immigration.The DNA testing program appears to be going forward. Bangladesh one of nine countries where France plans to start.
Richard Holbrooke ascertaining Saudi cognizance of Bangladeshi terrorist networks
COMMENTARY: Holbrooke’s intervention with the Saudis incidentally brought to light the detainment of Bangladeshi citizens being held in connection with the use of Islamic charities as terrorist fronts. No further questions are asked about the legalities surrounding the detentions.
“Holbrooke noted terrorist financing through Islamic charities and asked whether the Saudis were consulting with the governments of Pakistan, India, and Bangladesh about the issue. xxxxxxxxxxxx said the Saudis had detained numerous individuals from these countries and were seeking cooperation to investigate their activities”
Forecasting Muslim, including Bangladeshi, population growth in the UK
COMMENTARY : US analysis points to a ‘jump’ in growth of the UK Muslim including Bangladeshi population whilst shortly after asserting the growth rate is slowing. Asks the question whether the US government is in fact concerned at the growth of the Muslim population; it raises further questions about whether the US Government also monitors US Muslim populations for similar ends.
“This cable provides information on the demographics of the Muslim community in the UK. Among the findings are that the UK Muslim population has jumped in seven years from 1.6 million to 2 million. At that rate of increase, HMG estimates that the Muslim population of the UK at the next census in 2011 will be over 2.2 million. End Summary. Overall Muslim Population Growing But Rate Slowing -- Muslims are the second least-likely of all religious groups to have been born in the UK, with the majority being born outside the UK; 46% were born in the UK, 39% were bornin Asia (Bangladesh – 9%).”
“-- 74% of Muslims are from an Asian ethnic background (Bangladeshi - 16%), Almost 1.2 million Asian Muslims were living in Great Britain in 2001”
Characterising Bangladeshi peacekeeping as influence-building needing to be monitored
COMMENTARY : Intricate details of personal information of UN personnel which US interests are encouraged to gather. Striking is the proposition that Bangladesh conducts peacekeeping operations in Africa with a view to gaining influence in the region – the inference one is clearly expected to draw being that US interests should be suspicious of such motives which is a possible justification for the direction to conduct surveillance of that country’s UN personnel.
“Request for continued DOS reporting of biographic information relating to theUnited Nations B. (S/NF) Reporting officers should include as much of the following information as possible when they have information relating to persons linked to : office and organizational titles; names, position titles and other information on business cards; numbers of telephones, cell phones, pagers and faxes; compendia of contact information,such as telephone directories (in compact disc or electronic format if available) and e-mail listings; internet and intranet "handles", internet e-mail addresses, web site identification-URLs; credit card account numbers; frequent flyer account numbers; work schedules, and other relevant biographical information.”
“ -- Efforts by to gain influence in Africa via UN peace operations. Countries: Bangladesh [and others].”
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
aladin is Editor Emeritus of bdnews24.com and the son of Bangladesh’s first Foreign Secretary, Abul Fateh. Based in London, aladin works across disciplines, including as a strategy consultant, academic and artist. He has a long-sustained interest in civic diplomacy.
aladin
