GREECE DEPORTS IRAQI INSURGENT COMMANDER WHO ENTERED AS

S E C R E T SECTION 01 OF 02 ATHENS 001349

SIPDIS
AMEMBASSY ANKARA PASS TO AMCONSUL ADANA
AMEMBASSY ASTANA PASS TO USOFFICE ALMATY
AMEMBASSY BERLIN PASS TO AMCONSUL DUSSELDORF
AMEMBASSY BERLIN PASS TO AMCONSUL LEIPZIG
AMEMBASSY BELGRADE PASS TO AMEMBASSY PODGORICA
AMEMBASSY HELSINKI PASS TO AMCONSUL ST PETERSBURG
AMEMBASSY ATHENS PASS TO AMCONSUL THESSALONIKI
AMEMBASSY MOSCOW PASS TO AMCONSUL VLADIVOSTOK
AMEMBASSY MOSCOW PASS TO AMCONSUL YEKATERINBURG

E.O. 12958: DECL: 2019/07/29
TAGS: PTER PREL KCRM ASEC ABLD IZ GR
SUBJECT: GREECE DEPORTS IRAQI INSURGENT COMMANDER WHO ENTERED AS
ILLEGAL IMMIGRANT

REF: 08 ATHENS 1387

CLASSIFIED BY: Daniel V. Speckhard, Ambassador; REASON: 1.4(B),(D)

Summary

--------------


1. (S) Greek authorities deported Iraqi citizen Mu'ammar Latif
Karim (a.k.a. Abu Sajjad),accused of being a Shia insurgent
commander responsible for IED and other attacks in Iraq, on July

21. We understand he was arrested by Iraqi authorities on his
arrival by plane in Irbil July 22. Greek authorities originally
picked up Abu Sajjad with a group of other illegal immigrants near
the Turkish border in January, but Greek officials did not know his
identity at the time and released him with an order to depart the
country. He was arrested again in February in Athens, as a result
of effective cooperation involving Greek law enforcement,
representatives of a number of USG agencies located in both Greece
and Iraq, and Iraqi authorities. This case resulted in the
successful conclusion of Abu Sajjad ending up in Iraqi custody, but
it also highlights the continuing danger of terrorists using the
crowded migration route into Greece as a way to enter Europe. End
Summary.



From Iraq to Greece...and Back

--------------


2. (S) According to separate sensitive reporting, the Greek border
guard unit based in Didymoteicho, a Greek town in Western Thrace
near the land border with Turkey, arrested Abu Sajjad and 22 other
aliens on January 5, after they were spotted along the
Didymoteicho-Alexandropoulis highway. Abu Sajjad was subsequently
released from detention with an order to leave the country, as is
typical for illegal aliens detained in Greece. Greek authorities
re-arrested Abu Sajjad in Athens on February 14. Abu Sajjad
reportedly claimed he was a Palestinian, something alien smugglers
often coach illegal aliens to do in order to get a shorter
detention period. After learning his real identity, authorities
held him and two associates for false documents and other charges.
The case received some minor press attention in Greece in March,
although the story did not appear to draw significant attention
from the Greek public at the time.




3. (S) The Iraqi government submitted an INTERPOL red notice on Abu
Sajjad in March for "terrorist activities, kidnapping, killing,
supplying explosives, and detonating explosives." Following
complex Greek-Iraqi interactions which USG officials in Greece and
Iraq facilitated by maintaining close contact with local partners,
Greek authorities put Abu Sajjad on a plane late on July 21. We
received information July 22 that he had been arrested by Iraqi
authorities on his arrival in Irbil.



Comment

--------------


4. (C) Greek officials worked closely with the USG on this case,
which was legally complicated and crossed multiple Greek and
international jurisdictions that do not ordinarily cooperate
easily. They deserve credit for successfully arresting and
deporting Abu Sajjad, although as in other such sensitive
counterterrorism cases, Greek officials prefer private and low-key
credit vice public recognition. This case is a real-world example
of the danger of extremists and terrorists taking advantage of the
huge and growing waves of illegal migrants (tens of thousands in
2008) originating in conflict zones in the Middle East, transiting
Turkey, and then entering the EU through Greece's mountainous land
border or the thousands of islands in the Aegean (reftel). As we
have noted before, these overwhelming numbers have left Greek
officials in need of more help from the EU, including by
strengthening the activities of FRONTEX on the Greek border. We

ATHENS 00001349 002 OF 002


believe it is in U.S. interests to support these efforts to the
extent we can, including by building up programs on the basis of
the new memorandum of agreement between DHS and FRONTEX. At the
same time, the migration challenge is an important justification
for our proposal for re-initiating a DS/ATA Anti-Terrorism
Assistance program to train Greek law enforcement officials.
SPECKHARD