Tipped to head the caretaker government, Justice K M Hasan had begun recruiting advisors even before his scheduled date of appointment.
BNP terms US cables a 'conspiracy'
The acting secretary-general of the largest opposition questions the 'authenticity' of the cables Full story
Published : 12 Sept 2011, 09:15 AM
Updated : 12 Sept 2011, 09:15 AM
Dhaka, Sep 11 (bdnews24.com)—BNP has claimed the publication of leaked US embassy cables from the whistleblower WikiLeaks is part of a conspiracy to taint its image and make Bangladesh 'bereft of politics'.
The party alleged that the publication of the cables is only a ploy to spoil the party's close ties with the US and its administration.
BNP's acting secretary-general Mirza Fakhrul Islam Alamgir also questioned the 'authenticity' of the cables.
The cables purported to be sent by former ambassador Harry K Thomas and Chargé d'Affaires Geeta Pasi are a part of the conspiracy to wipe out politics in the country, he said.
"The conspiracy does not stop at tainting the party's image before the people but aims at ruining BNP's ties with the US," he claimed.
A cable published recently by WikiLeaks, titled "PMO PRINCIPAL SECRETARY SPEAKS CANDIDLY", which was sent to Washington by ambassador Thomas on Mar 14, 2005, details his meeting with then principal secretary at the PMO Kamaluddin Siddiqui.
"Siddiqui also described Khaleda's indulgence and protection of her 'corrupt' son as her biggest political failure," the cable said, referring to Tarique Rahman during his mother's 2001-6 stint as prime minister.
The issue came up after the ambassador "advised Siddiqui that prime ministerial first son Tarique Rahman's request via confidants for meetings with senior USG officials in Washington could not be accommodated for protocol and other reasons", the cable read.
In the three-page statement, Fakhrul said that the dates mentioned in some cables were before James F Moriarty had taken over as the US envoy to Dhaka. "Moriarty took office in Dhaka in the second half of 2008.
"Moriarty was yet to reach Dhaka that time. But it's not believable that he had sent fiction stories to cables."
He said Patricia A Butenis was the then US envoy to Dhaka when the state of emergency was declared in 2007. After joining as the deputy head of mission in Iraq in the summer of 2007, Moriarty came to Dhaka after around one year.
The BNP acting secretary-general claimed even if the cables were really from Moriarty, it had a similarity with the contexts and language of the then Anti-Corruption Commission and its then chief official.
"ACC is the notorious organisation which was active during the interim administration of Fakhruddin Ahmed with support from then military chief Main U Ahmed between Jan 2007 and Dec 2008."
He further claimed that if US envoy Moriarty had sent such a cable, it might have been a copy of the ACC report.
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