MGLE01: UNIIIC SAYS USG ASSISTANCE IS

S E C R E T SECTION 01 OF 02 BEIRUT 001530

SIPDIS

SIPDIS

NSC FOR AMBRAMS/DORAN/WERNER/SINGH

E.O. 12958: DECL: 05/15/2016
TAGS: PTER PINR KCRM LE SY UN
SUBJECT: MGLE01: UNIIIC SAYS USG ASSISTANCE IS
"FANTASTIC," PLANS MEETINGS IN WASHINGTON


Classified By: Ambassador Jeffrey D. Feltman for reasons 1.4 (b) and (d
)


1. (U) This message contains an action request for the
Department -- please see paras 9-10.

SUMMARY
--------------


2. (S) In a May 12 meeting with emboffs, senior
investigators from the UN International Independent
Investigation Commission (UNIIIC) said that the USG's
responsiveness on the UNIIIC's RFAs is "fantastic" and that
they are looking forward to meeting USG officials to follow
up on these requests in Washington in early June. UNIIIC
acting chief of investigations Peter Nicholson also provided
emboffs with additional information regarding the DNA of
suspected Hariri bomber Ahmad Abu Adass and the remains of a
"John Doe" found at the blast site. Nicholson said that the
UNIIIC's investigation is now going into "high gear." They
have brought in a Spanish investigative team to perform a
complete excavation of the February 14, 2005, blast site, and
have also hired a senior Belgian investigator, Bernard
Mitchelson, to pursue the investigation into the 14 other
bombings that have occurred since October 2004. Nicholson
requested another look into the USG's overhead imagery of
Beirut, Anjar, and the Zabadani base in Syria. He and UNIIIC
senior investigator Rosemary Nidiry also discussed with
emboffs plans to follow up on FBI offers to visit the
Quantico forensic labs and DOJ's offer to discuss witness
protection programs. End summary.

UNIIIC THANKS USG FOR ASSISTANCE;
PLANS WASHINGTON TRIP IN JUNE
--------------


3. (S) UNIIIC investigators Peter Nicholson and Rosemary
Nidiry met with emboffs and legatt at the Embassy on the
afternoon of May 12. During the hour-long meeting, emboffs
briefed Nicholson and Nidiry on initial USG responses to the
UNIIIC's requests for assistance (RFAs). Assistance efforts
included FBI offers to set up meetings in Washington between
UNIIIC officials and the FBI's DNA labs to discuss the
suicide bomber database and run mitochondrial analysis on the
UNIIIC's "John Doe," as well as meetings with the FBI's
communications and behavioral analysis units, and a visit to
their Quantico labs. Emboff also informed the UNIIIC
investigators about the Justice Department's offer of advice
on setting up witness protection plans.


4. (S) Nicholson said that this offer of USG assistance was
"fantastic." He said that he and Nidiry would discuss the
details of a trip to Washington in the coming days, but
Nicholson thought that he would be the one most likely to
travel to Washington for the meetings with the FBI and DOJ.
In addition to technical discussions with the DOJ to discuss
how to set up a witness protection program, Nicholson also
requested meetings with an appropriate USG agency, presumably
DHS, to discuss asylum and parole options for certain UNIIIC
witnesses as a sort of "witness protection lite." (COMMENT:
In a follow-up conversation with emboff, Nicholson confirmed
that he would travel to Washington to meet with the FBI and
DOJ. He would need an extra few days to finish drafting the
UNIIIC's next report to the Security Council, the due date
for which has been moved up from June 15 to June 9.
Nicholson anticipated that he would be available for
Washington meetings June 10-13. End comment.)

DNA ANALYSIS
--------------


5. (S) In the meantime, Nicholson provided emboffs with DNA
profiles of suspected Hariri bomber Ahmad Abu Adass and
Adass's family members, as well as DNA analysis of an
unidentified "John Doe" found at the February 14 blast site.
Legatt has sent these profiles back to FBI headquarters for
further analysis.

EXCAVATING THE BLAST SITE
--------------


6. (S) Nicholson said that the UNIIIC's investigation is
going into "high gear." He pointed to their recent efforts

BEIRUT 00001530 002 OF 002


to fully excavate the February 14, 2005, blast site. This is
because a "proper and complete" excavation of the crater has
never taken place. Now, the UNIIIC has brought in the same
Spanish forensic team that investigated the May 2004 Madrid
bombings to examine the Hariri assassination site in downtown
Beirut. The Spanish team is one of the world's best, and
will be working in shifts during 18-hour days to completely
excavate the crater and surrounding area, Nicholson said.


7. (S) The entire effort, Nicholson said, would take about a
month, lasting until mid-June. In the meantime, the Lebanese
authorities have built a huge tent covering nearly the entire
city block where the bombing took place, and have visibly
increased the security perimeter around the blast site with
new fences, lines of police tape, and as many as 500 LAF
soldiers to provide perimeter security. Under this heavy
protection, the Spanish team will dig down into the blast
crater. Depending on how far down they can find pieces of
the chassis of the suspected bomb platform, the white
Mitsubishi cantervan, and at what depth bedrock lies, they
will be able to conclusively determine whether the large
explosion came from the van or an underground explosive
device. In any event, Nicholson expected the team to find a
great deal of physical evidence -- some 15 months after the
event.

14 MORE CASES "HEATING UP"
--------------


8. (S) At the same time, Nicholson said that UNIIIC
Commissioner Serge Brammertz has hired another well-known
Belgian investigator, Bernard Mitchelson, to open formal
investigations into 14 other bombings that have taken place
since October 2004. Nicholson said Mitchelson is building a
large investigative team of his own as well. Nicholson said
the investigations into these 14 other bombings were really
"heating up" and he asked that Mitchelson have a chance to
meet Embassy legatt in the coming weeks to discuss additional
opportunities for assistance in these other investigations.
Legatt said he would be ready to meet with Mitchelson at any
time.

MORE OVERHEAD RECONNAISSANCE REQUESTS
--------------


9. (S) Action request: Nicholson also said he is still
interested in seeing overhead imagery of Beirut, Anjar, and
the Zabadani base in Syria. He said that a previous UNIIIC
RFA may not have come across clearly, with the wording making
it seem that the UNIIIC was interested solely in any sign of
a white Mitsubishi van in the imagery. Rather, the UNIIIC is
interested more broadly in Syrian patterns of activity in
Beirut, Anjar and Zabadani, and would like to see if the USG
has any more overhead surveillance that could be made
available for this purpose.


10. (S) Action request, continued: Nicholson said that,
ideally, he would like to see as many as 12 overhead shots of
Beirut from January 1 to February 20, 2005. He also said he
would like to see any available satellite imagery taken over
Anjar and Zabadani between July 1, 2004 and December 31,

2005. He realized the difficulty of these requests, given
the classification levels of satellite imagery, but he would
be happy with anything the USG could provide. Regardless of
the date of the imagery -- the USG could even "pick a date"
-- it could be of use to the UNIIIC, regardless of whether
any sign of a white Mitsubishi van turned up. Specifically,
the imagery could help the UNIIIC corroborate certain witness
accounts. Particularly in the case of Anjar, the UNIIIC was
interested in signs of "vehicles stored for operations,"
Nicholson said.
FELTMAN