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UNCLAS KAMPALA 000266 SIPDIS SIPDIS STATE FOR INS/CTR AND PM/ISO/PMAT (24/7) INFO DS/IP/AF, T, DS, INR, IO/T, INR/SPM, PM/ISO, PMAT, S/CT, S/P, S/ES-O, INL, S/P E.O. 12958: N/A TAGS: ASEC, KCRM, KNNP, MNUC, PARM, PTER, KCOR, UG SUBJECT: NUCLEAR SMUGGLING INCIDENT/PORTAL DETECTION IN KAMPALA- FEBRUARY 12, 2008 REF: SECSTATE 162091 1. (SBU) Post wishes to alert the Department and Washington agencies per reftel that it has received a report indicating a potential incident of illicit trafficking in nuclear and/or radiological materials. This report came to post's attention via walk in interview. Information concerning this report was relayed telephonically to PMAT at 0430 (Washington, DC time) on February 12, 2008. 2. Details of the incident follow: A) Current location of material: Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC). B) Transport status of material: Stationary. How secure is it: Not yet known. What does the host government plan to do with it: the Chieiftaincy of Military Intelligence has been notified. Not yet known what they plan to do with it. C) Assessment of the likelihood that the appropriate authorities can/will secure the material: Unlikely. D) If in transit, means of transport: Currently stationary. May be in transit in the next few days via public transportation or hired taxi. E) Intended destination of material: Tentatively Kampala, Uganda. F) Routing of material, if via multiple ports: Across DRC/Ugandan border. G) Supplier and/or origination point of material: Supplier is Congolese male (no further information). Origination point of material is undisclosed location in DRC. H) Type of material: Highly enriched grade pure uranium liquid. Poor quality photocopies of the canister and a charter indicating the uranium level was provided. There is no evidence to indicate the two copies are relevant to each other. Copies will be sent to MPAT, NTRG and DS/IP/SPC/WMD. Further copies are available upon request. Contact information is listed in para. 3. I) Date and time of incident: Not yet known. J) Source of the report: Walk-in. K) If an alarm, technical information: Not applicable. L) What else if anything was being smuggled with the material: Nothing else at this time. M) Specific place where alarm or incident occurred: Not applicable. N) Additional details of walk-in interview: The SOURCE is a Ugandan who sells gold that has been purchased from Congolese miners. A friend of the SOURCE knows a Congolese male with uranium for sale and would like the SOURCE to broker the transaction with a buyer. Per the SOURCE, there was a Pakistani buyer in Kenya who is not able to purchase the uranium due to the ongoing civil unrest in Kenya (NFI). The SOURCE was asked to provide a good quality photograph of the canister with the headline of a current newspaper in the background to ascertain if the canister even exists. This information has been shared with the Chieftaincy of Military Intelligence officer. RSO section will take no further action without additional guidance from Washington, DC. 3. (SBU) Action officer at post for handling incident is Assistant Regional Security Officer Kevin W. Murphy, reachable via mobile phone: 256-772-200-517, office: 256-414-30-6207, unclas email: murphykw2@state.gov, clas email: murphykw@state.sgov.gov. BROWNING