BURMA: SMALL EXPLOSION AT TRADERS HOTEL ON OCTOBER

UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 03 RANGOON 001204 SIPDIS SENSITIVE DEPT FOR S/ES, DS, OBO, INR, EAP, S/CT, CA/OCS/ACS E.O. 12958: N/A TAGS: ASEC PTER CASC PGOV PREL BM SUBJECT: BURMA: SMALL EXPLOSION AT TRADERS HOTEL ON OCTOBER 21, 2005 REF: A. LARSON/DS OPS TELCON ¶B. CT03-1005-150-1748 ¶C. IIR 6 812 0006 06 SENSITIVE BUT UNCLASSIFIED, PROTECT ACCORDINGLY. NOT FOR INTERNET. ¶1. SUMMARY: On Friday, October 21, at around 1838 hours (local time),a small explosion occurred near Traders Hotel, which is located less than a mile from the Chancery. (Note: Embassy TDYers and long-term Overseas Building Operations (OBO)/New Embassy Compound (NEC) personnel reside at this location.) No one was injured and only minimal damage reported. All official Americans (to include TDYers, OBO and Bill Harbert company employees) were contacted and accounted for and American mission security personnel were placed on alert. At this time, no one has claimed responsibility and no one is in custody. Regional Security Office (RSO) personnel met with local police and Traders Hotel security on Friday night and Monday morning and offered assistance. More information will be provided once known. Following FSNI's eyewitness report the explosion was small, contained and isolated, and there were no injuries, Charge, RSO and Conoff discussed the advisibility of activating the warden system and concluded the situation did not merit this action. Should this situation change, the subject would be revisited. END SUMMARY. ¶2. A small, but loud, explosion occurred in front of Traders Hotel at around 1838 hours on Friday, October 21, 2005. The explosion was heard and reported by OBO security staff who reside at the hotel; the explosion was also heard by the Marine on Post One (the Chancery is a kilometer away),and at the Grand Meeyahta (an apartment complex housing official Americans, located two blocks from the hotel) and at the Sakura Apartments (where a number of official Americans reside, about three-four kilometers away). No one was injured. ¶3. The location of the explosion was at the northeast corner of the hotel, at the intersection of Bogyoke Aung San Road and Sule Pagoda Road. The hotel has a large sign at the corner and the device was placed between the sign and the street in an area covered by a lot of foliage. The Government of Burma (GOB) police and military immediately closed down the adjacent roads and began a clean-up effort and started the investigation. The explosion appears to have mainly been intended as a "noise-maker," causing large holes in the ground and scattering dirt and pebbles over the area. Side-view mirrors on a few nearby vehicles broke, but neither the hotel windows nor building itself shook or suffered damage. ¶4. Post's Foreign Service National Investigator (FSNI) responded at once to the scene, where police informed him that the device was placed in a black, plastic type satchel and traces of TNT were found (verified at the police meeting on October 24). (Note: Traders security staff reported observing a bright light and smoke emanating from the site, just after the noise of the explosion.) No initial information as to who placed the device, and no more information on the device is known at this time. GOB has augmented hotel security with Armed Battalion and uniformed police. ¶5. This area has heavy foot traffic, as the hotel is located near the main market, one of the main bus stops and the central train station. The fact that the explosion occurred when no one was in the immediate vicinity is likely not a coincidence. Eyewitnesses place a few young girls, who were selling postcards, at that location just beforehand. Once they walked away, the device detonated (the girls were not involved). Police surmise someone either walked by and threw the satchel in the bushes and remotely detonated the device or threw it from a passing car (the former seems more likely given angles and location). The sheer volume of foot and vehicle traffic in that location at that time of day makes it probable that the device was remote detonated and not set on a timing device, since no one was standing next to the bomb when it detonated and the traffic light was red from the side where there would have been heavy traffic flow. ¶6. RSO staff and Defense Attache met with GOB Special Branch officials on Monday, October 24. RSO and DATT offered forensic and investigative assistance. GOB officials appreciated the offer and said they would "raise it up the ladder." (Note: The GOB often agrees to pass our offers up their chain of command, but normally never takes us up on offers of support.) GOB ordered Traders staff to cover up the holes that same night of the blast, so no one could see the site the next morning, another sign they want this event to disappear quickly. Special Branch Colonel Win Naing Tun said the GOB was still interviewing eyewitnesses, but had no suspects in mind and no suspects in custody. He also said the explosives used were not the same type of explosives used on the May 7 attacks, nor were there any apparent links to those events, stating, "this event was to destabilize and sow fear." ¶7. Separately, in a press conference the GOB held on October 23, GOB officials alluded they had received "intelligence" that two students from the All Burma Students Democratic Front (ABSDF, which operates out of Thailand and is outlawed in Burma) had infiltrated Burmese borders to conduct "disruptive acts against key locations." No more specifics were provided and police told us no known suspects were in mind at the October 24 meeting. ¶8. RSO staff, DATT, and OBO Site Security Manager (SSM) staff met with Traders Hotel Security and Management personnel just after the police meeting on the 24th. RSO saw Armed Battalion in front of the hotel, but no damage remained visible and the scene had returned to "business as normal." Traders security provided RSO with rough photographs of the site (police wouldn't allow Traders staff close to the scene) and some CCTV (closed circuit television cameras) photos that captured still images about the same time as the blast. However, CCTV coverage stopped a few feet shy of capturing the actual area of detonation. No evidence of significant shrapnel/fragment damage was found. It appears this device was designed to make a lot of noise vice creating bodily harm. ¶9. The current security posture at Traders appears to be adequate. As a result of the May 7 bombings in Rangoon, visitors (but not hotel guests) are screened and searched; these searches tend to be no more than a quick, cursory search of personal items. As a result of the October 21 explosion, additional police assets have been deployed to the hotel, including an Explosive Ordinance Detection (EOD)-type team that conducts daily sweeps of the compound, two plain-clothed officers and additional uniformed police. Traders has nine uniformed security officers both inside and outside of the hotel, they conduct vehicle screening of already parked cars in the hotel parking area, and security coverage is augmented by CCTV. Traders security mentioned exploring the addition of Mylar to their ground floor windows. RSO and SSM recommended a number of additional options to consider for security operations and will continue to work with Traders and other hotels and apartment complexes in this same regard. ¶10. Traders is also the planned location of the Marine Corps Ball on November 19. Security arrangements were again reviewed with the police and Traders security. Post will continue to review its security posture and will make any changes as needed, right up until the day of the Ball. ¶11. OBO and TDY personnel residing at Traders did not want to leave the hotel and felt comfortable remaining there after the explosion. The Local Guard Force and Surveillance Detection personnel were notified and instructed to increase their patrols, coverage of perimeters, and to report any suspicious incidents or packages immediately. ¶12. Separately, police informed our FSNI that on the morning of October 21, a large gasoline fire occurred at the Hmawbi military petrol depot and that police suspect arson. Also on October 21, police allegedly discovered a cache of arms, ammo, bombs and other explosives (no further information known) at the Takone train station, which is close to Mandalay (hundreds of kilometers north of Rangoon). ¶13. Comment: The government raised fuel and transportation costs between 600-900 percent this past week (septel); in some cases, this means the average Burmese will have to pay about half of his or her daily salary in transportation costs now. This explosion could have been political in nature, since the government does not allow public protests or demonstrations. Post will continue to follow events and report via septel. STOLTZ