HUMAN INTELLIGENCE THREAT REVIEW FOR COLOMBO

S E C R E T COLOMBO 001625 SIPDIS NOFORN DS FOR DS/ICI/CI E.O. 12958: DECL: 09/30/2029 TAGS: ASEC CE SUBJECT: HUMAN INTELLIGENCE THREAT REVIEW FOR COLOMBO REF: A. SECSTATE 189044 ¶B. COLOMBO 0605 ¶C. COLOMBO 1570 ¶D. 00 COLOMBO 0911 ¶E. COLOMBO 8485 Classified By: RSO Alex Moore - Reason: 1.4 (c and d) ¶1. (S/NF) Embassy Colombo convened a Counterintelligence Working Group (CIWG) meeting on 9/28/04. The purpose of the meeting was to respond to the annual Human Intelligence (HUMINT) Threat Review outlined in Ref A. In attendance were AMB, DCM, RSO, ARSO, POL, DAO, and IPO. The Colombo CIWG provided the following responses. ¶2. (S/NF) Assessment of Relations between Sri Lanka and U.S. a. Security/Defense Agreements - Good b. Law Enforcement/Intel Exchanges - At the most senior levels, law enforcement cooperation is excellent. At the patrol officer level, RSO noted several instances where police interest/skills/capabilities were found lacking. Intel exchanges are good. c. Host Country Protection - Good ¶3. (S/NF) Review of incidents in the past year a. Physical Surveillance - In Nov 2003 and again in April 2004, two men on a motorcycle were detected "observing" outside the DCM residence (Ref B). The motorcycle was found to be registered to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs. The reason for these incidents is unknown. b. Audio-Visual Surveillance - A number of incidents involving video/photographs being taken of the Embassy perimeter, none definitively CI related (Ref C). c. Harassment - No CI related incidents. d. Clandestine entries - None e. Provocations - None f. Use of Informants - In May 2000, a former mailroom employee believed to have been co-opted by host government intelligence services was fired (Ref D). g. Targeting operations against Americans - None h. Computer Tampering - None i. Telephone Taps, Mail, or email intercepts - In March 2003, Embassy Colombo discovered that unclassified mail shipped to the U.S. using DHL had been opened on two different occasions. In those instances, both the DHL envelope and some U.S.-bound personal letters were found opened. Some employees reported checks sent through DHL were never deposited or cashed. An investigation was conducted with inconclusive results. Mail delivery through DHL was discontinued in Sri Lanka and no further incidents have occurred. j. Pouch Tampering - In August, an unclassified pouch was delivered to the Embassy with the seal missing (Ref E). Nothing unusual was detected inside the pouch, other than the fact that it weighed only 15.3 kilos when compared to the documented weight of 16 kilos. Investigation revealed no further information. k. Active measures - No indication l. Unusual Knowledge of Facts by Government Officials - None ¶4. (S/NF) Critical Threat Countries in Sri Lanka and Size of Mission China - Large Cuba - Small Iran - Medium Iraq - Officially closed, however, the former COM is still in-country. Libya - Small Russia - Large Palestine - Small RSO note on India - India has a large presence in Sri Lanka, and the SL Directorate of Military Intelligence has reported to DATT that the Indian Resource and Analysis Wing (RAW) targets U.S. interests in Sri Lanka. ¶5. (S/NF) There are no known non-governmental entities in-country that conduct classic intelligence operations against the U.S. mission in Sri Lanka. ¶6. (S/NF) In conclusion, the CIWG reviewed the HUMINT threat rating in Sri Lanka and concurs with the current SETL rating of LOW. ¶7. (SBU) POC is RSO Alex Moore (94) (11) 244-8007. LUNSTEAD