ALGERIA REPORTEDLY RE-ARRESTS THREE TERRORISTS

C O N F I D E N T I A L ALGIERS 000622 SIPDIS SIPDIS E.O. 12958: DECL: 04/04/2016 TAGS: PREL PINR PTER PGOV AG SUBJECT: ALGERIA REPORTEDLY RE-ARRESTS THREE TERRORISTS LINKED TO RESSAM CASE REF: MCNICHOLAS-SIEVERS E-MAIL OF MARCH 28 Classified By: Ambassador Richard W. Erdman, for reasons 1.4 (b) and (d) ¶1. (U) The leading Arabic-language daily newspaper El Khabar reported April 4 on its front page the re-arrest of Abdelmadjid Dahoumen, Mourad Yakhlaf, and Adel Boumazber. According to El Khabar, the three individuals were released from prison last month in accordance with the Charter on Peace and National Reconciliation. The article stated that Dahoumen was arrested April 3 based on an international warrant issued by the U.S., which implicates him in the Millennium bombing plot masterminded by Ahmad Ressam. Yakhlaf and Boumazber, according to the report, were also connected to Ressam. The families and lawyers of the three men told El Khabar of their concern that the GOA planned to extradite them for trial. ¶2. (C) Per Ref e-mail request, DCM informed Presidential Counselor on Counter-Terrorism Rezag Bara, during an April 2 meeting on other issues, of the Department of Homeland Security's interest in learning whether Dahoumen and Yakhlaf, in the context of their involvement with Ressam in the Millennium bombing plot, were among the terrorists released from prison under National Reconciliation. Rezag Bara told DCM and PolEc Chief he would check on what information on these individuals could be shared with the U.S. and get back to us. COMMENT -------------- ¶3. (C) The re-arrest of these Millennium bombing plot suspects one day after our meeting with Rezag Bara is interesting to say the least. Although Rezag Bara has not passed any information on this matter to us directly, we note that the GOA frequently gives El Khabar information on background, and it is possible that the El Khabar story, the lead on that paper's front page, serves as the GOA response to our inquiry. The re-arrest of these individuals also raises questions about the manner in which the GOA decided which terrorists to release from prison under National Reconciliation. Some observers have commented on the apparently improvisational nature of the release process, and this latest reversal is likely to reinforce the impression that the GOA may now be having second thoughts about some of the releases. In this regard, European ambassadors, especially Schengen ambassadors, are complaining that Algeria has so far rebuffed requests for the names of those released. ERDMAN