(C) LAJNAT AD-DA'AWA AL-ISLAMIYA (LDI)

C O N F I D E N T I A L KUWAIT 000958 SIPDIS STATE FOR EB/ESC/ESP, S/CT, IO/PHO, NEA/ARP, IO/UNP TREASURY FOR OFAC:RNEWCOMB TREASURY FOR GENERAL COUNSEL AUFHAUSER TREASURY FOR TASK FORCE ON TERRORIST FINANCING NSC FOR PETERS E.O. 12958: DECL: 03/17/2013 TAGS: EFIN PTER ETTC PREL KU SUBJECT: (C) LAJNAT AD-DA'AWA AL-ISLAMIYA (LDI) REF: A. STATE 51355 ¶B. KUWAIT 921 AND PREVIOUS Classified By: AMBASSADOR RICHARD H. JONES; REASON 1.5 (D) ¶1. (SBU) Leaders of Kuwait's Islamic Constitutional Movement (ICM - the political arm of the Muslim Brotherhood here) paid separate calls on the French and US Ambassadors March 16 to appeal against the asset freeze imposed on the ICM-affiliated charity Lajnat ad-Da'awa al-Islamiya (LDI - reftels). They stressed that LDI is a reputable organization that has been active for several years, and that many of the accusations levelled against it contained factual errors or were years out of date. They avowed total opposition to terrorism and commitment to do all in their power to prevent funds from being diverted to terrorist causes, including the use of international auditors, but insisted they have seen no reason to believe LDI was guilty of funding terrorism. On the contrary, they claimed, LDI is an organization that does its own work rather than sub-contracting it out, and has such a good reputation that UNSYG Kofi Annan himself recently visited one of its activities. Not only the UN worked with the LDI in Afghanistan and Pakistan, but a French organization channeled project funding through LDI. Now, some 1.4 million Kuwaiti Dinars (over $4.5 million) of LDI funds are frozen, cutting off aid to thousands of orphans who depend on LDI. ¶2. (SBU) The ICM leaders (Chairman Issa al-Shaheen, MP Dr. Nasser al-Sane, and Abdul-Latif al-Hajeri) understand that they will have to work with their government and follow UN procedures in seeking to have LDI de-listed by the UN 1267 Committee. They also understand that some of the evidence against LDI cannot be made public. The core of their appeal is: either show specific wrongdoing so we can take action to prevent recurrence, or unfreeze it. Without making any promises for action, the Ambassador said we would be happy to look at any information ICM wished to share regarding LDI, and noted that if Dr. Sane travels to Washington in the near future as he hopes to do, he might want to consider trying to discuss the matter with OFAC. JONES