MEA SHARES INDIAN INTEL BLAMING LET FOR DIWALI

S E C R E T SECTION 01 OF 02 NEW DELHI 009008 SIPDIS E.O. 12958: DECL: 11/28/2015 TAGS: PTER PREL PINS EFIN KCRM KTFN PBTS PK IN TS GOI SUBJECT: MEA SHARES INDIAN INTEL BLAMING LET FOR DIWALI BOMBINGS REF: A. NEW DELHI 8782 ¶B. NEW DELHI 8680 Classified By: Charge Robert Blake, Jr. for Reasons 1.4 (B, D) ¶1. (S) Summary: Following up on MEA Additional Secretary Meera Shankar's November 14 assurance that the Indian government would share with us information regarding the October 29 Diwali bombings (Ref B),MEA Joint Secretary (Americas) S Jaishankar on November 29 confirmed to Charge and Poloff that Kashmiri businessman and Lashkar-e-Tayyiba (LeT) member Tariq Ahmed Dar, who has been in police custody since November 11, organized the attacks. Dar's identity emerged through an assessment of telephone data, he added. Jaishankar then summarized, but did not pass, a paper marked "Secret," which he said was based on "information from Dar," presumably derived from Dar's interrogation by police. The information Jaishankar conveyed to us includes background on Dar himself; limited identifier data on the terrorists who carried out the attacks; and some data on Dar's terrorism-related financial transactions. Jaishankar did not mention any direct role by ISI or the Pakistani government. News of Dar's arrest and his alleged connection to the Diwali bombings have been reported in the Indian media, but the press has been debating his role in the attack and in LeT. This is the first information we have received from the GOI confirming Dar's and the LeT's role. End Summary. Dar's Affiliations -------------- ¶2. (S) From the information Jaishankar provided, Dar is a former Hizbul Mujahedeen (HM) member who joined Lashkar-e-Tayyiba in July 2005. His point of contact was Abu Huzaifa, who Jaishankar characterized as an LeT division commander in Srinagar. Dar also communicated with LeT cells on both sides of the LoC, and -- as Indian media had reported -- he also issued press statements on LeT's behalf to the media in Srinagar. The Perpetrators -------------- ¶3. (S) According to Dar, three "Pakistanis" and one "Kashmiri" carried out the Diwali bombings. (NOTE: Jaishankar added that, in the Indian context, "Pakistanis" indicated non-Kashmiri Pakistanis, whereas "Kashmiri" could have meant a person from either Indian or Pakistani Kashmir -- he did not further specify. END NOTE.) All four terrorists departed Delhi soon after the attacks, but Dar did not know where they went. Also, per Jaishankar, "implicit in Dar's statement" was that the November 21 arrests in Srinagar of Mohammad Rafiq Shah and Mohammad Hussain Fazli were "related" to the bombings. (NOTE: Jaishankar did not clarify this statement. END NOTE.) The Money -------------- ¶4. (S) Dar also provided to the police some information on international money transfers. He had received a total of five million rupees (approximately $110,000) from both HM and LeT combined since 2002. Specific transactions included two transfers in late October for a total of 900,000 rupees (approximately $20,000) from an individual named Akbar Khan via UAE Exchange House in Dubai, and a series of transfers in July-October totaling 1,400,000 rupees (approximately $31,000) from al-Masha Trading, also in Dubai. Also, Dar within the 2002-05 period deposited 2,800,000 rupees (approximately $62,000),which he identified as money from HM, into a separate account. Jaishankar clarified that these transactions involved bank accounts, and not hawala transactions. (NOTE: Jaishankar's statement suggests that some of the information may have been derived from investigating Dar's bank accounts, and not from Dar himself. END NOTE.) Comment: The Start of a Beautiful Relationship? -------------- -- ¶5. (S) The real story here is the start of a productive flow of intelligence that goes beyond MEA handing us press clippings. The data Jaishankar provided is, admittedly, of limited value on its own, but it is undoubtedly meant to be a show of good faith, particularly in the wake of MEA's renewed requests for USG information on the IC-814 hijacking (Ref A). If we are able to reciprocate in some useful fashion (not necessarily on IC-814),it could be the start of a more productive exchange of terrorism-related information. BLAKE