(C) EXPLOSION REPORTED OUTSIDE HCMC HOME OF PM DZUNG

C O N F I D E N T I A L HO CHI MINH CITY 000160

SIPDIS

NOFORN

SIPDIS

E.O. 12958: DECL: 2/14/2017
TAGS: PGOV KCOR PTER PINR VM
SUBJECT: (C) EXPLOSION REPORTED OUTSIDE HCMC HOME OF PM DZUNG

REF: HCMC 157

CLASSIFIED BY: Seth Winnick, Consul General , CONGEN HCMC, State
Department.
REASON: 1.4 (b),(d)





CLASSIFIED BY: Seth Winnick, Consul General , CONGEN HCMC, State
Department
REASON: 1.4 (b),(d)


1. (C/NF) Reliable media contacts in HCMC confirmed to us that a
small improvised explosive device went off outside a home
belonging to Prime Minister Nguyen Tan Dzung in HCMC's District
3 sometime on February 12. No injuries or damage was reported.
Rumors of this incident circulated on February 13. (Per reftel,
the Prime Minster reportedly obtained this home in an under the
table deal when he was serving in the Ministry of Public
Security. Dzung's ownership of this valuable property is
supposedly not public knowledge.) Our contacts told us that
the media was under strict orders from the Party not to report
on any aspect of the story so as not to draw any connection to
the Prime Minister. The Australian Federal Police
representative in HCMC told RSO that local police claimed that a
transformer had exploded in the neighborhood and there was "no
more to the story." We drove by the area of the reported
incident on the afternoon of February 14. We did not see any
unusual police presence or any evidence of any type of
transformer damage or recent repair.


2. (C/NF) Comment: The incident comes on the heels of the
Prime Minister's February 9 web-chat, in which he promised a
strong personal response against corruption. A token explosion
in front of the Prime Minister's ill-gotten gain is a reminder
about the danger of casting stones, even if the house is not
actually made of glass. End Comment.

WINNICK