Published: August 24, 2005
Op-Ed Contributor
Crossfire War: Bangladesh - Jamaat-ul-Mujahideen Threatens to Strike Back
By Willard Payne 
Night Watch: DHAKA - The Islamic website, www.jihadunspun.com, carried the response by the Islamic militant group, Jamaat-ul-Mujahideen, to it’s being blamed for the 434 small bombs around the country last Wednesday.
They stated that if the government fails to establish Islamic law or tried to arrest any of their members, "we will take direct action. This statement was written by Tehran. In Tehran’s view they are thinking along very excellent lines and that their sense of committment and mission should be used accordingly.
Dhaka, which banned this group, and another one in February, made no comment on the group’s statement, according to Reuters. Security forces have detained more than 150 suspects but it has not been mentioned if any of them are members of the banned organizations. India has also expressed serious concerns about the attacks and offered to work with Dhaka, but Bangladesh’s Industries Minister has accused India of causing them and last Friday India started another border incident by firing on Bangladeshi construction workers on Bangladesh’s side of the border.
Two of the more widely circulated newspapers, Dainik Ittefaq and Dainik Sangbad quoted police sources who said the spritual leader of the group, Shayek Abdur Rahman has fled the country along with 16 associates. He is accused by the authorities of being the mastermind behind the bombings.
Bangladesh’s highest ranking police officer, Inspector-General M. Abdul Quayyum refused to comment on the newspapers reports. But whether Rahman has left the country or not, it is obvious the range of the bombings and the timing of them is beyond his capability, though he may have been informed by his liaisons with Tehran, that the attacks were coming, he would be blamed and a statement, giving the reasons for the attacks, would be released under his and his group’s name, while he and his closest aides would be given safe haven out of the country to perhaps Pakistan.
The attacks were Tehran’s and the Council of Guardians way of being subtle, exquisite, psychologically surgical, directing the government’s and the population’s attention. The Jihad view is now being taken more seriously. Dhaka’s leading English lanquage newspaper actually stated the day after the attacks that the "Third Call" should be heeded. They probably want to see a defeated India.
This is similar to the attacks in Lebanon, especially the one that assassinated Hariri, who Tehran and Damascus found to be uncooperative. Iran knew Syria would be blamed but Iran used the attacks to establish a working unity with Syria in their mutual confrontation with the West and Israel. When Hariri’s assassination took place Syria’s Prime Minister just happened to be visiting Tehran and the assassination was just two weeks after Lebanon’s Defense Minister had visited Iran.
As always the Council of Guardians see these crisis as a unifying influence. Iran’s reference to "a short time" for Dhaka to establish Islamic law in the country could mean that Tehran is willing to wait for about a month before Islamic forces strike back and with no small bombs next time but perhaps an attempt on the life of the Prime Minister and leading security officials.
Before the next wave of attacks you could see a visit to Dhaka by Iran’s new Foreign Minister Manouchehr Mottaki. He will suggest that Dhaka support the Jihad’s intention to use Bangladesh as a third front against India. Kashmir in the north, the rest of the Pakistani-Indian border along India’s northwest and Bangladesh along India’s northeast. Mottaki could remind Dhaka of what it already knows that New Delhi’s tendency to cause border incidents between India and Bangladesh makes it easier for the Jihad to find reasons for invading, and that the Islamic world should cooperate against mutual enemies.
Bangladesh’s Prime Minister could be informed, before Mottaki’s visit, that there are those, in senior positions in Bangladesh’s defense establishment, that would welcome any foreign assistance against India and all the investment the assistance would bring. Tehran could call it a Defense MoU (Memorandum of Understanding)
Iran’s new Minister of Intelligence, Gholam Hossein Mohseni Ejehei, a cleric, will also be monitoring Dhaka’s response and help the Council of Guardians determine if it is satisfactory. If Tehran is not pleased then the next wave, the "Third Call" will be designed to remove Bangladesh’s government while at the same time Islamic groups in bases along the "Zero Line," India/Bangladesh border could infilitrate the country.
Night Watch Information Service
http://www.crossfirewar.com
Based in Flossmoor,IL 60422.
ph:708-957-9651/fax:708-798-2929.
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* The views of Opinion writers do not necessarily reflect the views of NewsBlaze
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