Even as there is no sign of any truce between Bangladesh Army chief General Waker-uz-Zaman and National Security Adviser (NSA) Khalilur Rahman over the issue of assistance to Myanmar’s Rakhine State, American Chargé d’Affaires in Dhaka, Tracey Ann Jacobson, left for the US for consultations on May 22, Northeast News has reliably learnt.
Jacobson took a Qatar Airways flight to Doha which took off from Dhaka’s Shah Jalal International Airport at 4 am, hours after Yunus held a lengthy meeting with the leadership of the National Citizens’ Party (NCP) and some key advisers.
Jacobson was in the thick of things on May 11 when Yunus cancelled Army chief General Waker-uz-Zaman’s scheduled visit that day to Honolulu, Hawaii, that day.
The same day, a chain of fast-developing events occurred, involving the Principal Staff Officer (PSO) in the Armed Forces Division (AFD), Lieutenant General Kamrul Hassan.
Northeast News had earlier reported that Lt Gen Hassan took an inexplicable decision to move and rushed to meet Jacobson at the US embassy in Dhaka’s Baridhara neighbourhood. He was closeted with the American Charge d’Affaires for nearly two hours.
Following this meeting, which reportedly took place in contravention of Bangladesh Army regulations, Gen Zaman moved to remove him as the PSO. But this move was said to have been blocked by Yunus and Bangladesh Khalilur Rahman.
Since then, Lt Gen Hassan has been maintaining a low profile but is not under any form of Army-imposed restrictions. He reportedly attended office on May 22, though he may well be under surveillance.
Jacobson’s move to leave Dhaka at this “critical” juncture could be based on an assessment of the evolving political-security situation in Bangladesh. Her decision to leave for the US could be aimed for holding consultations with State Department and security officials.
More importantly, this consultation could be with a view to assess what position Gen Zaman might take during his forthcoming visit to China towards the end of June.
There has been a spate of moves on the part of the Bangladesh Army to consolidate itself with likely military hardware purchases from China. Gen Zaman’s visit to China will be a first after he took over as Army chief in June 2024.
A US Defense Intelligence Agency (DIA) assessment prepared by its Director, Lt Gen Jeffrey Kruse, says that “China probably also has considered establishing PLA military facilities” in several countries, including Bangladesh, Burma (Myanmar), Pakistan and Sri Lanka.
