C O N F I D E N T I A L KUWAIT 005537

SIPDIS

STATE FOR EB/ESC/TFS GGLASS AND NROTHSTEIN
STATE FOR S/CT SFOX, IO/PHO APEREZ, TREASURY FOR OFAC
RNEWCOMB

E.O. 12958: DECL: 12/08/2013
TAGS: EFIN ETTC ECON PREL KU IZ
SUBJECT: (C) IRAQI ASSETS: KUWAIT WILL TRANSFER FROZEN
ASSETS IN BAHAMAS AND KUWAIT

REF: A. KUWAIT 5415


B. KUWAIT 5207


C. SECSTATE 311703

Classified By: Charge d'Affaires Frank C. Urbancic, Reason 1.4 (b)

On December 8, Acting Head of the Central Bank of Kuwait's
Anti-Money Laundering Unit Talal Alsayegh informed EconOff
that the Government of Kuwait has decided to transfer the $85
million in Iraq assets frozen in the Bahamas to the DFI (via
the Kuwaiti mission at the UN). Alsayegh said that the
joint Central Bank/MFA investigatory team has also determined
that additional Iraqi funds currently held in Kuwaiti banks
must be transferred, although he did not specify the exact
amounts. Post will inform the Department of the specifics as
soon as they are available.


URBANCIC