GUANTANAMO DETAINEE RETURN STATE OF PLAY

S E C R E T ALGIERS 000877

SIPDIS

SIPDIS

E.O. 12958: DECL: 06/18/2027
TAGS: PHUM PINR PTER ICRC KAWC AG
SUBJECT: GUANTANAMO DETAINEE RETURN STATE OF PLAY

Classified By: Ambassador Robert S. Ford; reasons 1 (b, d).


1. (C) SUMMARY AMD COMMENT: On June 19, Algeria's major
newspaper El Watan ran a story about the April 2007
discussions between the U.S. and Algeria that cited alleged
American conditions for the release of Guantanamo detainees.
The El Watan story also bitterly criticized the U.S.
conditions as an attack of Algeria's sovereignty. The
commentary from a newspaper known to have good sources in the
security services came on the heels of public remarks by the
Algerian foreign minister alluding to the release of
Guantanamo detainee Sofiane Haderbache. The delay in
Haderbache's return may have trumped a GOA plan to claim that
it secured Haderbache's release without conceding to U.S.
conditions. What seems clear is that the GOA is using the
independent Algerian media to score easy points at the
expense of the U.S. We expect the move to complicate the
transfer of other prisoners. End Summary and Comment.


2. (S) From June 16-18, Ambassador had a series of
conversations with presidency and foreign ministry officials
concerning the transfer of Haderbache back to Algeria.
Presidential aide Nourredine Ayadi informed the Ambassador
that the decision to transfer Haderbache was slow-going
because it was being deliberated at the highest levels, above
Ayadi's boss Presidential Counterterrorism Counselor Kamel
Rezag-Bara. (Comment: As best we can tell, only Generals
Medienne, Lamari and Lallali at the Directorate of Military
Intelligence, and Presidential Advisor Abdelatif Rahal and
President Bouteflika are above Rezag-Bara.)


3. (C) In a June 16 conversation, taking into account
Haderbache's diminished physical and mental condition,
Foreign Ministry's Acting Secretary General (Deputy
Secretary) Hassane Rabehi told the Ambassador that the GOA

SIPDIS
would accept Haderbache. Rabehi made clear that the GoA had
not yet agreed to receive any other Algerian detainees from
Guantanamo.


4. (C) On the evening of June 17, the Algerians gave verbal
permission to accept Haderbache. On the morning of June 18
Rebhi at the MFA refused to return Ambassador's repeated
phone calls to caution that Haderbache would not be brought
to Algeria after all. The Ambassador informed Ayadi at the
Presidency instead midday, and Ayadi stated that he was not
unhappy about the delay. On June 18, apparently assuming
Haderbache was on a plane headed for Algiers, Foreign
Minister Mourad Medelci held a press conference alluding to
winning Haderbache's release.


5. (C) On June 19 many newspapers carried stories tracing
back to the Medelci press comments. The largest
French-language daily, El Watan, published three full pages
of commentary on the conditions of Guantanamo detainees under
the front-page headline, "I have seen the horror at
Guantanamo." The newspaper dedicated two pages to an account
by U.S. defense attorney Josh Colangelo-Bryan. Noted
Algerian journalist Salima Tlemcani devoted most of page
three of the edition to a purported account of the U.S. -
Algeria discussions about transferring Algerians from
Guantanamo back to Algeria. (Comment: Tlemcani has reliable
sources within GOA's security services.) According to
Tlemcani, the American conditions are:

- GOA implements procedures so ex-detainees cannot launch
terrorist activities.
- GOA shares information on ex-detainees' activities.
- GOA informs the U.S. of all judiciary measures taken
against the ex-detainees.
- GOA keeps ex-detainees under daily surveillance.
- GOA confiscates their passports and refuses their
applications for new ones.
- GOA places them on a UN terrorist list.
- GOA guarantees that the ex-detainees will not create new
terrorist organizations. (Note: This was not included in the
original negotiations.)
- GOA has a third party visit them on a monthly basis to
verify how they are being treated. (Note: This was also not
part of the original negotiations.)

COMMENT
--------------


6. (C) We have officially informed the GOA of the delay in
Haderbache's return and the reasons for it. We have detected
no sense of unhappiness at all. Meanwhile, the MFA statement
and leaks to the Algerian media about the current state of
play on returning Guantanamo detainees certainly reflect an
effort from within the Algerian security services to score
political points domestically by showing that the GOA is
standing up to the Americans over Guantanamo. (Very few
Algerians outside of government have any sympathy for the
American policy on detaining enemy combatants at Guantanamo.)
In addition, the GOA leakers may also be seeking to hamper
further negotiations. We also cannot discount the
possibility that elements of the government planned to use
Haderbache upon his return as a kind of poster-child for
victims of U.S. mistreatment. If either hypothesis is valid,
future progress on obtaining security guarantees from the GOA
will be difficult.
FORD