GUANTANAMO: FORMER DETAINEE ALLEGEDLY ENCOURAGED

C O N F I D E N T I A L ALGIERS 000308


DEPT FOR S/WCI, DS/IP/NEA, S/CT, DS/ICI/CI, NEA/EX AND
NEA/MAG

E.O. 12958: DECL: 03/30/2029
TAGS: ASEC PGOV PREL MOPS PTER PHUM KAWK KISL AG
SUBJECT: GUANTANAMO: FORMER DETAINEE ALLEGEDLY ENCOURAGED
TO ATTACK U.S. EMBASSY IN ALGIERS

Classified By: DCM Thomas F. Daughton; reason 1.4 (g).


1. (C) SUMMARY: A letter received by the Embassy on March 25
accuses the spouse of former Algerian Guantanamo detainee
Sofiane Abar Houari of encouraging her husband to attack the
U.S. Embassy in Algiers. The letter, written in mediocre
French, purports to be from a concerned citizen presumably
living near Houari in Oran. It states that the spouse, a
Chechen national married to Houari, has been encouraging her
husband to exact revenge against the American Embassy in
Algiers for what the Americans did to him in confinement.
The letters does not specify a method or timetable for an
attack. RSO has coordinated with local law enforcement,
which has confirmed that Houari is in Oran and under
surveillance. END SUMMARY.


2. (SBU) The March 22 letter, addressed simply to the U.S.
Ambassador in Algiers, was received by the Embassy on March

25. It purports to have been written by a concerned Oran
citizen who appears to have access to specific information
about Houari. The letter includes no return address. Its
theme is the encouragement being given to Houari by his
Chechen wife to exact revenge against the American Embassy in
Algiers for what the Americans did to him in prison.


3. (C) The letter provides only the surname of the former
Guantanamo detainee, whom the author describes as "a
terrorist man." It also includes, however, a variety of
specific information about Houari, noting that he is 38 years
old, was born in 1970 in Oran, and lives on the 4th floor of
a building at 3 avenue Hammou Mokhtar Saint-Eugene. The
information provided corresponds to the date of birth and age
of former Guantanamo detainee Sofiane Abar Houari (or
Huwari),ISN 1016, who was born on April 20, 1970 in Oran.
Sofiane Houari was returned to Algeria in November 2008. He
is married to a Chechen national.


4. (SBU) The letter claims that Houari and his wife, who is
said currently to be in Chechnya, have regular contact via
telephone and the internet. It states that the wife is using
their daughter as a means to reinforce to the father the
injustice that the Americans inflicted on him. Information
about Houari has previously appeared in the New York Times,
which published unclassified transcripts of the tribunal
proceedings undergone by Houari at Guantanamo. The
transcript includes descriptions of Houari's alleged
association with terrorist groups and persons, as well as his
visits to Pakistan, Chechnya and Georgia.


5. (C) RSO met with local law enforcement officials on March
25 and informed them of the letter and its content. They
agreed to cooperate fully. The police stated that, as a
matter of practice, individuals who have been determined to
maintain terrorist associations are regularly monitored in
Algeria. According to the postmark, the letter was sent from
Oran on March 23. A scanned copy of the letter has been
provided to DS HQ. RSO also notified and provided scanned
copies of the letter to Legatt and other agencies at post for
follow-up. RSO was able to obtain an old photo of Houari and
has provided color copies to all RSO staff. On March 26, the
police confirmed that Houari had been located in the city of
Oran and that he is currently under surveillance. Police
further stated that Houari has been observed spending time in
a local Internet cafe (NFI).


6. (SBU) Embassy's informal translation of the letter follows.

BEGIN INFORMAL TRANSLATION

Oran, 22.02.2009

From: A citizen
Address: Oran
Subject: Warning of a danger from a woman from Chechnya

Mr. Ambassador of the American Embassy in Algiers,

Sir, pay attention to a Chechen woman married to a terrorist
man whose name is Houari, aged 38 years, who was born in 1970
(and) resides at 3 Avenue Hammou Mokhtar Saint-Eugene, Oran
on the fourth floor. This man was in prison at Guantanamo
but is now free.

This man is in contact via telephone and Internet in his home
with his wife from the country of Chechnya. This woman is
filling her Algerian husband's brain with ideas of revenge
and terrorism directed against the American embassy, in an
effort to make him understand that the Americans caused him
to lose those years of his life in prison and that the
Americans are non-believers, and they must not remain on
Algerian territory, and the people of Oran should fight the
American Embassy.

So, Mr. Ambassador, the phone and internet should be cut off
at the house so that there will be no more contact between
Chechens and Algerians - the man and the woman. Also, you
should separate the woman from the man to allow the country
of Algeria to live in peace. This woman is getting her
husband at his weak point, a little girl who was born in
Chechnya.

Using this point of weakness the woman wants to come to Oran,
Algeria, and she is going to change the morale of her husband
and she is making him angry at the American Embassy and he is
going to be against you, and he will fight you Americans with
help. His friends here will be impressed and this man is
impressed by the Chechen woman.

I am trying to warn in order to prevent terrorism from
returning to Algeria because of a woman from Chechnya.

Accept my request, sir, and my salutations.

Signature (sic)

An Oranais

END INFORMAL TRANSLATION.


7. (U) POCs for this report are Regional Security Officer
Kevin Whitson and Deputy Regional Security Officer Miguel A.
Eversley.


PEARCE