VZCZCXYZ0015
RR RUEHWEB

DE RUEHBS #4193 3550829
ZNR UUUUU ZZH
R 210829Z DEC 06
FM AMEMBASSY BRUSSELS
TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC 3910
INFO RUEKJCS/SECDEF WASHDC
RUEHGB/AMEMBASSY BAGHDAD 0018
RUEHAM/AMEMBASSY AMMAN 0066

UNCLAS BRUSSELS 004193 
 
SIPDIS 
 
SENSITIVE 
SIPDIS 
 
E.O. 12958:  N/A 
TAGS: PREL PINS BE IZ
SUBJECT:  Letter from Belgian Attorney Concerning 
Incarceration in Iraq of Oussama Atar 
 
 
¶1. (SBU) Belgian attorney Jacques Bourgaux wrote the 
Ambassador December 11 to seek information regarding the 
detention in Iraq of Oussama Atar, a Belgian of Moroccan 
origin.  Unofficial embassy translation of the letter is 
reproduced in paragraph two.  The letter reports Atar as 
being held by the U.S. when, according to information we 
have received from a variety of sources, including the 
Belgian MFA and the Iraqi embassy here, it appears he 
has been convicted by an Iraqi court for entering the 
country illegally.  USG elements reportedly manage the 
facility where Atar is being held prior to being turned 
over to Iraqi custody after his sentencing in mid- 
January.  The Embassy proposes acknowledging receipt of 
the Bourgaux letter and referring him to the Belgian 
MFA.  Acting at our suggestion, the Belgians are dealing 
directly with the Iraqis on this matter, both here in 
Brussels and via the Belgian embassy in Amman, where the 
Belgian Charge accredited in Baghdad resides. 
 
¶2. (U) Request Department's guidance on answering the 
Bourgaux letter. 
 
¶3. (U) Begin Unofficial Embassy Translation: 
 
December 11, 2006 
 
Dear Mr. Ambassador: 
 
I have the honor to inform you that the family of Mr. 
Oussama Atar has sought my advice.  He was born May 4, 
1984, in Laeken (Brussels).  He is a Belgian national 
domiciled in the above mentioned municipality, Place 
Joseph Benoit Willems, 13. 
 
The person in question left his parents three years ago, 
and according to the International Committee of the Red 
Cross, Central Tracing Agency, he is being held in 
southern Iraq, at the Bucca Camp, a camp controlled by 
the allied forces. 
 
According to the responsible persons I have contacted at 
the Belgian Foreign and Justice Ministries, a delegation 
has been able to contact the Belgian national at the 
Bucca Camp.  It occurs that the Belgian national was 
first held at Abu-Gharib, and later at the Cropper Camp, 
before his transfer to Bucca Camp. 
 
The family would like to know the reason for his long 
(almost three years) internment, and more particularly 
the charges that have been brought against Mr. Atar. 
 
Finally, your Embassy, by obtaining information locally 
in Iraq or from the American authorities competent for 
this sort of demarche, might be able to indicate to me 
under what conditions and when the liberation and 
repatriation to Belgium of Mr. Atar might be envisaged. 
 
His present demarche has apurely humanitarian 
motivation, and although ery concerned, the family has 
no intention, at this stage, to turn this demarche into 
a ublic matter. 
 
Yours sincerely, Jacques Bourgax 
 
END TRANSLATION 
 
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