AFGHAN AUTHORITIES CONCUR WITH DETENTION AND

C O N F I D E N T I A L KABUL 000867 SIPDIS E.O. 12958: DECL: 04/05/2019 TAGS: KCRM AF SUBJECT: AFGHAN AUTHORITIES CONCUR WITH DETENTION AND TRANSFER OF DEPARTMENT OF DEFENSE CONTRACTORS REF: STATE 32980 Classified By: Political Counselor Alan Yu, for reasons 1.4 (b) and (d) ¶1. (C) Per reftel instruction, Political Counselor called on Deputy National Security Advisor Engineer Ibrahim Spenzada on April 5, to obtain concurrence of Afghan authorities for the April 7 detention and transfer of two DoD contractors to face criminal charges in the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Virginia, on allegations of paying bribes of approximately $200,000 to obtain U.S. Army contracts worth approximately $20 million dollars. ¶2. (C) DNSA Spenzada gave vocal concurrence to the operation. He did not indicate a written concurrence would be forthcoming. He made no mention or offer of Afghan law enforcement involvement in the operation. He strongly welcomed the action, suggesting the United States consider announcing the arrests at an appropriate time to signal our seriousness over corruption by international contractors and sub-contractors operating in Afghanistan. Spenzada reported many contacts who complain of being cheated by contracts who appear to be beyond the reach of the law. He anticipated no negative public reaction to the operation. ¶3. (C) The text of the letter is as follows: April 5, 2009 Dear Engineer Ibrahim: On behalf of the United States Government, I wish to inform the Government of Afghanistan of a planned law enforcement operation on the grounds of U.S. military installations in Afghanistan. The Embassy informs the Government of Afghanistan that two Department of Defense contractors, Raymond Nazar and Dinorah Cobos, of Lebanese and dual U.S.-Lebanese nationality, respectively, will be charged on Monday, April 6, in a U.S. District Court for paying bribes of approximately $200,000 to obtain U.S. Army contracts worth approximately $20 million dollars. The United States Government has a strong interest in combating bribery and is concerned that these individuals may flee Afghanistan in the near future. Under these circumstances, if the Government of Afghanistan agrees that these individuals should be removed from Afghanistan and has no objection to U.S. authorities taking custody of these individuals and removing them to the United States to stand trial in U.S. District Court, U.S. personnel are prepared to detain both individuals on Tuesday, April 7 at Camp Eggers. These individuals would then be transported to Bagram Air Field, where they would be detained temporarily and then transferred to the United States. The transfer to the US is tentatively scheduled for April 8. Upon return to the United States, the individuals would be subject to criminal proceedings in federal court for their alleged violation of U.S. laws. Alan Yu Political Counselor RICCIARDONE