KUWAIT'S HOLD ON LDI NOT SANCTIONED BY MFA

C O N F I D E N T I A L KUWAIT 000284

SIPDIS

DEPT FOR EB/ESC/ESP (GLASS),S/CT, IO/PHO (PEREZ)
TREASURY FOR TREASURY GENERAL COUNSEL (AUFHAUSER),OFAC
DIRECTOR (NEWCOMB),TREASURY DAS FOR TERRORISM (ZARATE),
TREASURY TASK FORCE ON TERRORIST FINANCING

E.O. 12958: DECL: 01/25/2013
TAGS: PTER PREL EFIN ETTC FR KU UN
SUBJECT: KUWAIT'S HOLD ON LDI NOT SANCTIONED BY MFA
LEADERSHIP?

REF: A. USUN 137

B. KANESHIRO/JONES 1/22/03 E-MAIL

C. PARIS 551

Classified By: AMBASSADOR RICHARD H. JONES, REASONS 1.5 B AND D.


1. (C) The Ambassador raised Kuwait's request (refs A and B)
for a hold on the French proposal to include the
Kuwaiti-based organization Lajnat ad-Da'wa al-Islamiya (LDI)
on UN freeze orders with Kuwaiti Minister of State for
Foreign Affairs Dr. Shaykh Mohammed al-Sabah in a one-on-one
meeting on the morning of January 22. Stressing that U.S.
information corroborated and went beyond what the French had
given the UN, the Ambassador told Shaykh Mohammed that we
wanted the GOK to lift its hold.


2. (C) Dr. Mohammed replied candidly that he had no idea
what was behind the Kuwaiti request for a delay; neither he
nor Minister of Foreign Affairs Shaykh Sabah al-Sabah had
been consulted on this issue. When the Ambassador posited
that perhaps somebody was trying to spare LDI's parent
organization, the Muslim Brotherhood's (MB) Social Reform
Society, embarrassment, Dr. Mohammed recalled that when the
US gave the GOK troubling information on branch offices of
the Revival of Islamic Heritage Society, another Kuwaiti
charity, last year, the GOK took action on it immediately.
This showed the GOK was not afraid to make waves with
Islamists. In fact, if an MB affiliate got put in the docket
now it would help show Salafi supporters of the RIHS that it
was not being singled out. If anything, taking on the LDI
would be a political plus for the GOK.


3. (C) Dr. Mohammed assured the Ambassador that he would do
his best to "get to the bottom of this." He asked the
Ambassador if the Kuwaiti hold would prevent the LDI from
ultimately being listed. The Ambassador replied that his
understanding was that the GOK could delay the listing but it
was unlikely that they could prevent it, particularly since
Pakistan had now lifted its hold. In that case, Dr. Mohammed
said, it made absolutely no sense for Kuwait to risk damaging
its international reputation as an opponent of terrorism. He
would speak to Shaykh Sabah.


4. (C) The Ambassador also discussed the LDI case separately
with his French counterpart, Ambassador Claude Losguardis, on
January 22. Losguardis said that he had discussed the issue
only with the MFA's Ambassador al-Awadi (IO A/S equivalent).
He added that the Kuwaiti embassy in Paris had presented a
dip note to the Quai d'Orsay requesting that France withdraw
its proposed listing but that the GOF had found the note's
arguments "pas convaicante" (ref C). JONES
JONES