Identifier
Created
Classification
Origin
07STATE166577
2007-12-13 15:13:00
SECRET
Secretary of State
Cable title:  

CORRECTED COPY - DEMARCHE REQUEST - MISSING AMCIT

Tags:  BA CASC IR IZ KJUS KPRP KU LE MU PGOV PHUM PK PREL 
pdf how-to read a cable
VZCZCXRO1017
PP RUEHDE RUEHDIR
DE RUEHC #6577/01 3471532
ZNY SSSSS ZZH
P 131513Z DEC 07
FM SECSTATE WASHDC
TO RUEHAD/AMEMBASSY ABU DHABI PRIORITY 9521
RUEHAM/AMEMBASSY AMMAN PRIORITY 2583
RUEHAK/AMEMBASSY ANKARA PRIORITY 2374
RUEHTA/AMEMBASSY ASTANA PRIORITY 8462
RUEHGB/AMEMBASSY BAGHDAD PRIORITY 4446
RUEHKB/AMEMBASSY BAKU PRIORITY 5626
RUEHLB/AMEMBASSY BEIRUT PRIORITY 7346
RUEHDM/AMEMBASSY DAMASCUS PRIORITY 4148
RUEHDO/AMEMBASSY DOHA PRIORITY 8670
RUEHDBU/AMEMBASSY DUSHANBE PRIORITY 0049
RUEHIL/AMEMBASSY ISLAMABAD PRIORITY 0738
RUEHBUL/AMEMBASSY KABUL PRIORITY 1211
RUEHKU/AMEMBASSY KUWAIT PRIORITY 2401
RUEHMK/AMEMBASSY MANAMA PRIORITY 3707
RUEHMS/AMEMBASSY MUSCAT PRIORITY 9985
RUEHRH/AMEMBASSY RIYADH PRIORITY 5413
RUEHYE/AMEMBASSY YEREVAN PRIORITY 4702
INFO RUEHRL/AMEMBASSY BERLIN PRIORITY 1163
RUEHSW/AMEMBASSY BERN PRIORITY 3212
RUEHLO/AMEMBASSY LONDON PRIORITY 3903
RUEHMO/AMEMBASSY MOSCOW PRIORITY 6677
RUEHFR/AMEMBASSY PARIS PRIORITY 6282
RUEHTV/AMEMBASSY TEL AVIV PRIORITY 2290
RUEHDE/AMCONSUL DUBAI PRIORITY 7111
RUEHIT/AMCONSUL ISTANBUL PRIORITY 1477
RUEHDIR/IRAN RPO DUBAI PRIORITY 0063
RUEAIIA/CIA WASHINGTON DC PRIORITY 7449
RHEHNSC/NSC WASHINGTON DC PRIORITY 9362
RHMCSUU/FBI WASHINGTON DC PRIORITY 7664
S E C R E T SECTION 01 OF 04 STATE 166577 

SIPDIS

SIPDIS
LONDON FOR GAYLE
BERLIN FOR PAETZOLD
BAKU FOR HAUGEN
ISTANBUL FOR ODLUM
PARIS FOR JORDAN
KABUL FOR HOWARD
MOSCOW FOR KELLEHER/HOGAN
FBI WASHDC FOR LAIRD (WFO)
NSC FOR HARDING

E.O. 12958: DECL: 12/13/2017
TAGS: BA CASC IR IZ KJUS KPRP KU LE MU PGOV PHUM PK PREL
PTER, QA, SA, SY, TI, TU, TX, AF, KZ, AJ, AM, AE
SUBJECT: CORRECTED COPY - DEMARCHE REQUEST - MISSING AMCIT
ROBERT LEVINSON

REF: A. STATE 80300

B. STATE 77328

C. STATE 67683

D. DUBAI 172

E. DUBAI 181

F. DUBAI 256

Classified By: DAS Gordon Gray, NEA/FO

S E C R E T SECTION 01 OF 04 STATE 166577

SIPDIS

SIPDIS
LONDON FOR GAYLE
BERLIN FOR PAETZOLD
BAKU FOR HAUGEN
ISTANBUL FOR ODLUM
PARIS FOR JORDAN
KABUL FOR HOWARD
MOSCOW FOR KELLEHER/HOGAN
FBI WASHDC FOR LAIRD (WFO)
NSC FOR HARDING

E.O. 12958: DECL: 12/13/2017
TAGS: BA CASC IR IZ KJUS KPRP KU LE MU PGOV PHUM PK PREL
PTER, QA, SA, SY, TI, TU, TX, AF, KZ, AJ, AM, AE
SUBJECT: CORRECTED COPY - DEMARCHE REQUEST - MISSING AMCIT
ROBERT LEVINSON

REF: A. STATE 80300

B. STATE 77328

C. STATE 67683

D. DUBAI 172

E. DUBAI 181

F. DUBAI 256

Classified By: DAS Gordon Gray, NEA/FO


1. (U) This is an action message. Please see paragraph 8.
This cable
included corrected action request/objectives.

--------------
BACKGROUND
--------------


2. (S) The United States has reason to believe Iranian
security services may have targeted and detained private
investigator and retired FBI Special Agent Bob Levinson on
March 8, 2007, during a trip to Kish Island, Iran,
presumably believing him to still be in USG employ.


3. (SBU) Levinson,s wife, son, and sister-in-law are
scheduled to travel to Iran December 17-23 2007. The
Embassy of Switzerland in Tehran, the U.S. Protecting Power
in Iran in the absence of formal diplomatic relations, will
assist the family during the visit.


4. (S) Press and other reporting indicate Levinson arrived
on Kish Island to investigate for his client cigarette
smuggling in the Gulf and perhaps regional networks of
Russian organized crime. After checking into the Maryam

Hotel, he may have met with U.S. citizen David Belfield,
a.k.a. Dawud Salahuddin, a.k.a. Hassan Abdulrahman, wanted
for murder in the United States in the slaying of Ali Akbar
Tabatabai, a supporter of the late Shah and former Iranian
diplomat, in 1980. Unconfirmed reports over the past
several months suggest Levinson may now be in Evin Prison
(Tehran) or elsewhere in Iran, under the control of the
Ministry of Intelligence and Security (MOIS) or the Islamic
Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC). Another source of
unknown reliability claims Iranian proxies are holding
Levinson in a third country.


5. (SBU) The United States has sent numerous formal
inquiries to Iran since March 12, 2007 through the
Government of Switzerland, seeking information on
Levinson,s disappearance. In June, the EU delivered a
demarche to the Iranian MFA on the cases of Levinson and

STATE 00166577 002 OF 004

SUBJECT: CORRECTED COPY - DEMARCHE REQUEST - MISSING AMCIT
ROBERT LEVINS
the four Iranian-Americans who have since been released
(Haleh Esfandiari of the Wilson Center, Parnaz Azima of
Radio Farda, Ali Shakeri of the UC-Irvine Center for
Citizens Peacebuilding, and Kian Tajbakhsh of the Open
Society Institute). Officials from Japan, Turkey, India
and various European states have also delivered points to
the Iranians. Additionally, the governments of the Czech
Republic, New Zealand, Canada and South Korea have
committed to press the Iranians.


6. (SBU) Initially, the Iranians denied even being able to
verify that Levinson had arrived in Iran, but later said
they did not know what had happened to him after he had
left his hotel on Kish on March 8. Tehran has refused to
share any details of its investigation with the family or
with the Swiss Embassy.


7. (S) Note: Some sources believe that, based on the
Iranian government,s behavior, the regime may not/not be
detaining Levinson. They argue that the authorities would
have signaled to the USG that they were holding the former
FBI agent and made demands. They note, too, that rumors
that Tehran was holding an Amcit would eventually become
widespread, even if the government was trying to keep this
a secret. Alternate theories posit that: 1) the Iranians
abducted Levinson on March 8 but he subsequently died in
custody (he had been on medication for a number of health
problems at the time of his disappearance); or 2) Levinson
fell victim to Russian organized crime.

--------------
ACTION REQUEST/OBJECTIVES
--------------


8. (S) Posts should ask host governments to: 1) check
with their passport authorities, border police, interior
ministries, port and airport personnel, and intelligence
officials to determine if anyone matching Levinson,s
description entered any of those countries since March 8;
2) pass along any other available information and
intelligence on the Levinson case, particularly any
"proof of life," to the U.S. government. At post,s
discretion, you may also ask host governments to 3) press
the Iranians to cooperate during the visit of Levinson,s
wife, scheduled for December 17-23, 2007; 4) enlist support
of the host governments in making informal or
formal inquiries to the Iranians about Levinson; and/or
5) push the Iranian authorities to share copies of
investigative reports, or at least disclose details
from those reports, with diplomats at the Swiss Embassy
in Tehran. (FOR ABU DHABI AND ANKARA: 6) Thank host
governments for past assistance on the Levinson case.)


9. (U) The information contained in below Non-Paper may be
shared with host governments.


STATE 00166577 003 OF 004

BEGIN TEXT OF LEVINSON NON-PAPER
--------------

United States Citizen Robert A. Levinson, a private
investigator, has been missing in Iran since visiting Kish
Island on March 8, 2007. According to immigration
officials at Dubai International Airport, Mr. Levinson
departed the United Arab Emirates at 10:45 on March 8,
2007, aboard Kish Air Flight Y97141. That same day he
checked in to the Maryam Hotel on Kish Island. At the
hotel, according to press reports, he met with American
citizen David Belfield, a.k.a. Dawud Salahuddin, a.k.a.
Hassan Abdulrahman, who is wanted for murder in the United
States in the slaying of a supporter of the late Shah and
former Iranian diplomat, Ali Akbar Tabatabai, in 1980.
(Belfield fled to Iran after committing that crime.)

The United States has sent numerous formal inquiries to
Iran since March 12 through the Government of Switzerland,
our Protecting Power in Tehran in the absence of formal
diplomatic relations, seeking information about Levinson,s
disappearance. The Iranians initially denied even being
able to verify that Levinson had arrived in Iran, but later
confirmed they had lost track of him after he left his Kish
hotel on March 8. Tehran has refused to share any details
of its investigation with the family or with the Swiss
Embassy.

Levinson,s wife, son, and sister-in-law are traveling to
Iran December 17-23, 2007.

Mr. Levinson had been an official with the Federal Bureau
of Investigation, a U.S. Government law enforcement agency,
until his retirement 10 years ago. The United States
believes Mr. Levinson was visiting Iran to investigate
Iranian cigarette smuggling for a client and/or research a
book on Russian organized crime activities in the region.
At the time of his disappearance, Mr. Levinson was not
working for the United States Government.

Press reports indicate Mr. Levinson met Belfield at the
Maryam Hotel on March 8. During the meeting, Iranian
security personnel allegedly entered the room and detained
both Levinson and Belfield. Belfield was subsequently
released, but no one has seen Mr. Levinson since. Iranian
authorities claim that Mr. Levinson left the hotel on March
8 in a taxi on his way to the airport, thus suggesting that
he left the country.

At the time of his disappearance, Levinson was 6 ft 4 in
(1.93 m) tall and weighed 250 lbs (115kg). Pictures of Bob
Levinson, born March 10, 1948, may be found on the internet
at helpboblevinson.space.live.com/photos. Mr. Levinson has
serious health problems.


STATE 00166577 004 OF 004


--------------
POINTS OF CONTACT/REPORTING REQUIREMENTS
--------------


10. (U) Please report any comments that are provided
by host governments as soon as possible. Points of contact
are Jenny Foo in CA (202 736-4997, foojj@state.sgov.gov)
and Tim Standaert in NEA/IR (202 647-2569/2520,
standaerttm@state.sgov.gov). Washington appreciates post's
assistance.
RICE