AMBASSADOR WAYNE MEETS WITH AMIA FAMILY

C O N F I D E N T I A L BUENOS AIRES 002790 SIPDIS SIPDIS STATE FOR S/CT -- VIRGINIA PALMER; STATE FOR WHA -- CROFT; STATE FOR NEA/I -- HENRY WOOSTER, AARON SNIPE, TIMOTHY STANDAERT, NSC FOR JUAN ZARATE, TREASURY FOR TFI -- HEFFERNAN E.O. 12958: DECL: 12/19/2016 TAGS: EFIN PTER ETTC PREL AR IR LE SUBJECT: AMBASSADOR WAYNE MEETS WITH AMIA FAMILY REPRESENTATIVES REF: SECSTATE 196015 Classified By: Ambassador E.A. Wayne for reasons 1.4 (b and d) ¶1. (SBU) SUMMARY. Ambassador met December 15 with representatives from "Familiares y Amigos de las Victimas" (Family and Friends of the Victims, or FAV),one of the three main organizations representing AMIA victims, and the first meeting between FAV and Ambassador Wayne. Both sides expressed their strong desire to see the case move forward, and that it not be allowed to be politicized, and be seen as the United States acting against Iran. Ambassador assured the group that the Embassy and U.S. Government remain extremely committed to the resolution of the case, and encouraged the group to stay in close contact. END SUMMARY. ¶2. (C) The Ambassador, accompanied by LEGATT and ECONOFF, met December 15 with four members of the FAV group, accompanied by their lawyer. They expressed guarded satisfaction with judge's recent issuance of arrest warrants for the alleged AMIA attackers, and said that their group had no political motives, but wanted "only justice and the truth." The group said they understood the political sensitivities of the case, and did not want to allow the Government of Iran (GOI) to be able to portray the recent GOA actions as the United States and Israel "pushing" Argentina. The group also expressed support for the GOA judge and prosecutors, and GOA MFA's subsequent defense of these arrest warrants against recent GOI's "aggressive" protests. The group acknowledged that although they had achieved a "symbolic" victory with this arrest warrant, they also wanted to see the guilty actually captured as well. ¶3. (C) Ambassador hailed the work of the GOA special prosecution team that put together the investigaiton and indictments, saying that they had put together solid evidence. He noted the great interest he and the USG attached to this case, and that he had spent many years of his own career working against terrorism. Ambassador also agreed that the USG had to be careful to allow Argentina to lead efforts with the case. We said the USG wants to assist in assuring international support for the investigation and law enforcement/judicial process, and not politicize the case as being the United States against Iran. ¶4. (SBU) The discussion turned to the process of how and if Interpol would issue the Red Notices for these individuals, and how its Executive Committee might handle the case. The group was interested to know if we thought it would be a good idea for FAV to lobby those nations that are members of Interpol's Executive Committee. Legatt explained the state of play. Ambassador Wayne said that the United States would certainly be active in such a lobbying effort, and said that FAV members could as well. The group also expressed interest and satisfaction in the recent Department of Treasury announcement to designate nine individuals and two entities that have provided financial and logistical support to the Hizballah terrorist organization (reftel). ¶5. (SBU) The meeting ended with both sides re-affirming the great importance they attached to this case, and Ambassador encouraged the group to contact him and the Embassy at any time, for input, dialogue, and any information they might want to pass on. WAYNE