IRAQ ASSETS FREEZE/GOK REVIEW OF TERRORIST FINANCE

1. (U) In initial courtesy calls, in-coming Econ Chief met on
28 June with Ministry of Finance U/S Abdul Mohsen Al-Hunaif
and Dep U/S Mustafa Shamali; on 30 June with Kuwait Stock
Exchange Technical Chief Wafa Al-Rashid; and on 1 July with
Banking supervisors Abdul-Aziz Al-Bader and Abdullah Al-Sabah
of the Central Bank of Kuwait (CBK) for general discussions
regarding GOK activities in support of UNSCR 1483, earlier
resolutions, and actions of the UN 661 Iraq Sanctions
Committee.



2. (U) CBK officials on 1 July confirmed receipt of Ref D
letter from Treasury Secretary Snow and informed us that
Ministry of Foreign Affairs officials, in conjunction with
the Ministry of Finance, would conduct a review of GOK
actions thus far in support of terrorist finance
interdiction. Subsequently, ECON provided the Ministries of
Finance and Foreign Affairs copies of the Treasury letter and
renewed our earlier request (Ref E) for an update on the
specifics of GOK's finance interdiction activities.



3. (U) ECON delivered Ref C demarche and talking points to
Ministry of Foreign Affairs on 10 July and subsequently to
the appropriate offices of the CBK and the Ministry of
Finance. The accompanying diplomatic note reiterated earlier
requests for an update on Kuwait's finance interdiction
program. Our interlocutors cited the recent National
Assembly elections concluded on 5 July and the current
reorganization of Government as factors that have delayed
GOK's review and update of Kuwait's actions to date in the
interdiction of terrorist financing.



4. (U) Comment. We sense no reluctance on the part of our
interlocutors to provide the promised review of Kuwait's
activities in support of UNSCR 1483, earlier resolutions, and
actions of the UN 661 Iraq Sanctions Committee. The National
Assembly elections indeed have brought some changes (Refs A
and B) in the political line up that inevitably will affect
who does what regarding the War on Terrorism, which
understandably is a raised profile issue here. Additionally,
the GOK recently re-organized key elements for its financial
house supervision. Within the past six weeks, the GOK has
promulgated Law 30 amending the 1968 Law 32 to bring the
"Islamic Banks" under Central Bank supervision as if they
were regular commercial operations; the Kuwaiti interagency
Anti-Money Laundering and Anti-Terrorism Financing Committee
was organized formally; and the Finance Ministry transferred
control of the Financial Intelligence Unit to the Central
Bank from the Ministry of Justice. We expect the
bureaucratic dust of the elections and the supervisory units'
reorganization to settle soon and will encourage our
interlocutors to bring us up-to-date immediately thereafter.
End Comment.
JONES