Publication: Town Hall
'Bangladeshi Taliban'
It's generally accepted that the return to power of Prime Minister Zia has boosted Islamists in Bangladesh. Two of her junior coalition partners, Jamaat-i-Islami and the Islam Unity Council, are viewed as having pro-Taliban sympathies. Two Jamaat lawmakers are in the new cabinet.
Under Zia's former tenure - which ended in 1996 - Bangladesh "encouraged and allowed a large number of volunteers" to fight in Islamic struggles in Afghanistan and Kashmir, according to India's Institute for Conflict Management (ICM), which researches terrorism.
"A large number of these extremists are now present in Bangladesh and are spreading the Islamic fundamentalist movement in Bangladesh, which has extensive connections with ... al-Qaeda."
The ICM names Harkat-ul-Jihad-al-Islam as one group in Bangladesh allied to bin Laden, and says its members style themselves as the "Bangladeshi Taliban."
It says the organization, which boasts an estimated 15,000 activists, was established with the help of bin Laden in 1992. It runs at least six camps in the hilly Chattagong area, where cadres are trained in weapons use.
"Several hundred recruits have also been trained in various training camps of Afghanistan."
Members in 1999 were accused of attempting to kill a renowned poet, Shamsur Rahman, as part of a plot to kill at least 28 prominent Bangladeshi intellectuals.
Perhaps surprisingly, Bangladesh has not featured in the State Department's last six annual reports on global terrorism for 2000.
During the brief visit, Clinton canceled a planned trip to a village named Joypura, 60 miles from Dhaka, for "security reasons." A White House statement issued in New Delhi cited the risks of flying over dense, unguarded forests and rice paddies, but reports quoting U.S. officials said a specific threat had come from bin Laden or terrorists linked to him.