AFTERMATH OF SAWH ASSASSINATION

UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 02 GEORGETOWN 000406

SIPDIS

SENSITIVE
SIPDIS

WHA/CAR
DS/IP/WHA
DS/ICI/PII
CARACAS FOR DAO AND LEGATT
PORT OF SPAIN FOR DEA AND LEGATT
SOUTHCOM ALSO FOR POLAD

E.O. 12598: DECL: N/A
TAGS: PINS PGOV ASEC KCRM GY
SUBJECT: AFTERMATH OF SAWH ASSASSINATION

REF: A.GEORGETOWN 372


B. GEORGETOWN 205

C. GEORGETOWN 137

D. GEORGETOWN 111


1. (U) SUMMARY: More than one week has passed since the
assassination of Agriculture Minister Satyadeo Sawh, with
little progress on apprehending the killers. Various
theories are circulating in an effort to explain why he was
targeted, and the ruling PPP has publicly insinuated the
involvement of the opposition PNC/R. The GOG has requested
assistance from the USG, Canada and the UK, apparently
without consulting key law enforcement figures, including
the Minister of Home Affairs and the Commissioner of Police.
END SUMMARY.

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REQUEST FOR ASSISTANCE
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2. (SBU) Ambassador met April 24 with Head of the
Presidential Secretariat, Dr. Roger Luncheon, then later
with President Jagdeo, to discuss the GOG's request for
security related assistance in the wake of Sawh's killing.
Jagdeo and Luncheon essentially admitted that the public's
patience with the GOG's performance on security is wearing
thin, and they are looking for a response that "captures the
public's imagination". The GOG has also asked Canada and the
UK for help.


3. (SBU) Jagdeo's mood was somber, with a visibly furrowed
brow. Minister Sawh's killing has clearly hit senior GOG
officials hard. Their psychological moat that made them feel
separated and protected from Guyana's security problem has
vanished. According to Luncheon, Jagdeo has just about
exhausted the Guyana security forces' investigative
capabilities and so they are forced to seek greater
international assistance. Post's impression is that Sawh's
killing has really woken up senior GOG politicos to the loss
of state control over the country's security.


4. (SBU) Luncheon followed up with a written request. BEGIN
TEXT OF LETTER:

Subsequent to our meeting today, April 24th, 2006 in my
office, I write to record the more salient features of my
presentation and details of the request for assistance byt
he Government of Guyana to the Government of the United
States of America.

The Government of Guyana recognises that the assassination
of Minister Sawh has created the gravest threat to our
democracy. Significantly, there are other threats associated
with the existence of the criminal gang in Buxton and the
intellectual authors of their crimes. Also the loss of the
large number of AK-47 weapons from the military is still
unexplained and recovery unrealised.

It is in that context that the Administration is appealing
for assistance in a number of areas including:


1. Expanding Investigations into the loss of the AK-47
weapons from the military and leading to the recovery.


2. Enhancing the Criminal Investigation Department's
investigation into the murder of Minister S. Sawh and his
family.


3. Provision of Crime fighting equipment for an elite force.

The Administration highly appreciates the current assistance
being offered and anticipates a timely response as this time
of great threat to democracy and public safety in Guyana.

END TEXT OF LETTER.


5. (SBU) Notably, in follow-up discussions with the Minister
of Home Affairs, Gail Teixeira, the Commissioner of Police,
Winston Felix, and the Chief of Staff of the Guyana Defense
Force, Brigadier Edward Collins, Post has learned that none
of them were consulted prior to dispatching this request.
Rather, the request reflects what President Jagdeo, Luncheon
and the Cabinet want during this moment of sorrow and

GEORGETOWN 00000406 002 OF 002


possibly panic.

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THEORIES
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6. (SBU) EmbOffs have heard a great many theories since
April 22 about the motive behind Sawh's killing. They can be
divided into three schools of thought:


A. Political. A militant, presumably Afro-Guyanese anti-
government faction wants to gain greater political power but
feels it cannot do so through Guyana's democratic process.
The GoG is peddling this theory, and the GoG leadership is
paranoid about a treasonous cadre of current and former
military and police officers. This militant group is
centered in Buxton, a coastal village approximately six
miles east of Georgetown that is essentially beyond state
control. A corollary to this theory is that Sawh was
targeted in revenge for the January killing of prominent
Afro-Guyanese journalist and rabble-rouser Ronald Waddell.
To this end, the Joint services have engaged in a series of
searches of Buxton, which have netted night vision goggles,
military uniforms, and other pieces of military equipment.
Ballistics tests performed at spent shells from the Sawh
murder scene prove that the same weapons were used in the
February 26 Agricola/Eccles massacre and another gruesome
shooting/beheading in Agricola in March 2005. Notably,
Luncheon fueled the political angle when he publicly mused
in the April 27 post-Cabinet briefing that unspecified
members of the PNCR have contacts with the bandits in
Buxton. However, he explicitly stopped short of linking the
PNCR to Sawh's murder.


B. Sawh involved in criminal activities. Sawh was said to be
close with criminal Salim Azeez, a suspected money launderer
and alien smuggler. Azeez financed a fish farm, Newline Aqua
Farm, which appears to be a money laundering operation.
Azeez was previously arrested with several Guyanese and U.S.
passports but later was acquitted of wrongdoing. As Minister
responsible for fisheries, Sawh would have had an ostensible
reason to meet with Azeez. Moreover, several tuned-in
observers from a cross-representation of Guyanese society
feel strongly that Sawh was a clean minister relative to
many of his peers.


C. Sawh took too strong a stand against criminal activity.
Some are saying that Sawh took a lead role in urging the
Cabinet not to issue forestry permits to suspect concerns,
which pitted him against the drug lords. According to this
reasoning, Shaheed "Roger" Khan - whose forestry application
was mentioned in the 2006 International Narcotics Control
Strategy Report (INCSR) - may then have had a hand in Sawh's
killing.

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PRESSURE MOUNTS ON POLICE COMMISSIONER FELIX
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7. (U) Pressure has continued to mount on Commissioner of
Police, Winston Felix, to resign in the wake of the crime
situation. In an April 25 press release, the Georgetown
Chamber of Commerce and Industry added its voice to those
who have called for Felix's resignation, expressing
"absolute and total lack of trust and confidence in the
leader of the police force". Despite speculation that he
would not last through the weekend, Felix remains on the
job. Some interlocutors suggest that Felix's impending
retirement in October makes the potential political fallout
of sacking him not worth the effort. Nevertheless, President
Jagdeo pointedly called on the police force to produce
results at Sawh's April 25 funeral, declaring that "no one
can convince me that among the 5,500 [members of the police
and army] and all the money that we send in that area, that
we cannot find and mete out to them what they deserve for
terrorizing our country and our people".

BULLEN