VZCZCXYZ0126
PP RUEHWEB

DE RUEHBU #1327/01 1921711
ZNY CCCCC ZZH
P 111711Z JUL 07
FM AMEMBASSY BUENOS AIRES
TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC PRIORITY 8614
INFO RUEHAC/AMEMBASSY ASUNCION PRIORITY 6338
RUEHBR/AMEMBASSY BRASILIA PRIORITY 6203
RUEHCV/AMEMBASSY CARACAS PRIORITY 1340
RUEHMD/AMEMBASSY MADRID PRIORITY 1870
RUEHMN/AMEMBASSY MONTEVIDEO PRIORITY 6571
RUEHSG/AMEMBASSY SANTIAGO PRIORITY 0568
RUEHTV/AMEMBASSY TEL AVIV PRIORITY 0081
RUEAIIA/CIA WASHINGTON DC PRIORITY
RHEFDIA/DIA WASHINGTON DC PRIORITY
RHMFISS/FBI WASHINGTON DC PRIORITY
RHEHAAA/NATIONAL SECURITY COUNCIL WASHINGTON DC PRIORITY
RHMFISS/HQ USSOUTHCOM MIAMI FL PRIORITY
RHMFISS/DEPT OF JUSTICE WASHINGTON DC PRIORITY

C O N F I D E N T I A L BUENOS AIRES 001327 
 
SIPDIS 
 
SIPDIS 
 
WHA FOR A/S SHANNON, DASDUDDY, AND DMCCARTHY, WHA/BSC FOR 
FRIEDMAN, AND BLAKENEY NEA/IR FOR HWOOSTER, S/CT FOR 
VIRGINIA PALMER AND ARNOLD SIERRA, NSC FOR JUAN ZARATE AND 
JOSE CARDENAS, FBI FOR CTD IRAN-HIZBALLAH UNIT AND OIO 
AMERICAS UNIT 
 
E.O. 12958: DECL: 07/10/2017 
TAGS: PTER PREL PGOV KJUS AR FBI IS
SUBJECT: AMBASSADOR MEETING WITH AMIA FRIENDS AND FAMILY 
GROUP 
 
Classified By: Ambassador E. Anthony Wayne for reasons 1.4(b)and(d) 
 
¶1.  (C)  Summary.  On July 10, Ambassador Wayne, accompanied 
by Legal Attache and poloff, met with representatives from 
the Friends and Families of victims of the 1994 Argentine 
Israeli Mutual Association (AMIA) terrorist attack (FAV). 
The Ambassador praised the FAV's efforts to keep the memory 
of the AMIA attack and the 1992 attack on the Israeli Embassy 
alive.  He expressed support for their and the Argentine 
government's efforts to bring the perpetrators to justice and 
assured FAV representatives that the USG continues to support 
GOA efforts to lobby Interpol members to uphold Interpol's 
Executive Committee (EC) recommendation to issue six 
international arrest warrants (Red Notices) for suspects 
implicated in the AMIA attack.  FAV representatives thanked 
the USG for its support, and offered their perspective on 
additional leads the GOA should have pursued in the AMIA 
investigation.  They also expressed concern over Iran's 
"aggressive" diplomatic effort to lobby Interpol members to 
overturn the EC decision.  They asked that the USG continue 
to keep pressure on Interpol members to vote in favor of 
upholding the EC decision.  End Summary. 
 
¶2.  (C)  On July 10, Ambassador Wayne, accompanied by Legal 
Attache and poloff, met with representatives from the Friends 
and Families of victims of the 1994 Argentine Israeli Mutual 
Association (AMIA) terrorist attack (FAV).  The Ambassador 
praised the FAV's perseverance in pursuing justice in the 
AMIA attack and the 1992 attack on the Israeli Embassy and 
for keeping the memory of the victims alive.  He expressed 
support for their and the GOA's efforts to bring the 
perpetrators to justice.  FAV representative, Luis Czyzewski, 
thanked the USG for its support, and asked that the USG lobby 
Interpol members prior to the November General Assembly 
urging them to vote in favor of upholding Interpol's 
Executive Committee (EC) recommendation to issue six 
international arrest warrants (Red Notices) for suspects 
implicated in the AMIA attack.  He noted that although 
Interpol's General Assembly has never overturned a unanimous 
EC decision before, the FAV remains concerned over Iran's 
"aggressive" diplomatic effort to lobby Interpol members to 
overturn the decision.  The Ambassador stated that the USG 
stands ready to assist GOA efforts to lobby Interpol members 
to uphold the EC decision.  He further explained that the GOA 
should take the lead in lobbying Interpol with the USG 
playing a supporting role in order to avoid criticism that 
the effort is USG-led. 
 
¶3.  (C)  The Ambassador praised AMIA Special Prosecutor 
Alberto Nisman's handling of the AMIA investigation and asked 
for FAV's observations on how the previous investigation was 
mishandled.  Czyzewski opined that the Swiss government did 
not cooperate with Argentine authorities investigating 
whether the Iranian government (GOI) used a Swiss bank 
account to finance the terrorist attack.  LEGATT deemed the 
possibility as unlikely, pointing out that Iran has a 
sophisticated intelligence service, and would not likely use 
a financing mechanism that is so easily traceable.  Czyzewski 
noted that both the French and German governments had made 
similar allegations that Iran financed terrorist activities 
in their countries using a Swiss bank account.  He noted that 
the U.S. has a counterterrorism finance information sharing 
agreement with Switzerland and asked whether or not the USG 
could try to obtain information about the existence of such 
an account under the agreement.  LEGATT explained that the 
agreement is bilateral in nature, and that the USG can not 
ask for information on behalf of a third country.  The 
Ambassador noted that if the FAV had any additional concrete 
information about the account, such as an account number or 
bank name, the USG would be interested in pursuing the lead, 
because it is an account that has allegedly been used to 
finance a number of terrorist activities.  FAV said it did 
not have any additional information as the Swiss government 
 
could not identify the account, and suggested contacting AMIA 
Special Prosecutor Alberto Nisman for additional information. 
 LEGATT agreed to do so. 
 
¶4.  (C)  Ambassador praised Nisman's efforts to investigate 
the AMIA bombing, and asked for FAV's opinion on how the case 
was handled in the first investigation under Judge Galeano. 
Czyzewski acknowledged that Nisman had conducted a good 
investigation with USG assistance.  He stated that Galeano, 
on the other hand, was neither personally nor technically 
prepared to investigate the AMIA bombing and committed many 
mistakes.  While he indicated that it is not clear whether 
the Menem administration pressured Galeano to take certain 
actions, he opined that it was more than likely.  He noted 
that there was also a lot of inter-agency fighting that 
complicated the investigation.  He further explained that 
Galeano's decision to pay a witness for testimony is actually 
permitted under Argentine law, so long as the payment is 
drawn from a specific fund and noted in the case file. 
Unfortunately, Galeano kept the payment secret, Czyzewski 
stated. 
 
¶5.  (C)  Another FAV representative stated that FAV has asked 
Nisman to summon a Menem-era official (and Menem's 
ex-brother-in-law), Amir Yoma (alternative spelling: Amir 
Yoma), to look into the supposed suicide of his office 
secretary, Lourdes Di Natale, who reportedly knew about the 
 
SIPDIS 
government's efforts to investigate the case and whose father 
believes she was murdered.  Another possible suspect is 
Syrian national, and alleged arms dealer, Monzer Al Kazar 
(alternative spelling: Al Kassar), who was able to obtain an 
Argentine passport during the Menem era.  Legatt discounted a 
possible Syrian connection to the AMIA bombing, noting that 
Hezbollah agents who carried out the attack, are financed by 
Iran, not Syria.  The Ambassador acknowledged that individual 
Syrians may have facilitated the operations, but that it was 
less likely that Syria or the Syrian-Argentine community was 
involved in the attack.  (Note:  Al Kazar was arrested in 
Spain in June in response to a USG extradition request.) 
 
¶6.  (C)  The Ambassador then asked why there had not been any 
progress on the 1992 bombing of the Israeli Embassy. 
Czyzewski opined that the GOA made a political decision not 
to investigate the attack, as it considers the attack to be 
one on Israel not on Argentina.  Upon conclusion of the 
meeting, Czyzewski invited the Ambassador to participate in a 
ceremony on July 18 to commemorate the 13th anniversary of 
the bombing.  The Ambassador noted that he had planned to 
attend the annual commemoration. 
WAYNE