SECURITY BUREAU REPORTS COUNTERTERRORISM

C O N F I D E N T I A L SECTION 01 OF 02 KUWAIT 001071

SIPDIS

FOR NEA/ARPI

E.O. 12958: DECL: 03/14/2015
TAGS: PTER EFIN ETTC PREL PGOV KU
SUBJECT: SECURITY BUREAU REPORTS COUNTERTERRORISM
SUCCESSES, BUT WORK REMAINS

REF: A. KUWAIT 1069

B. KUWAIT 1054

C. KUWAIT 881

D. KUWAIT 806

E. KUWAIT 247

Classified By: Ambassador Richard LeBaron for reasons 1.4 (b) and (d).


1. (C) Summary: In a March 14 meeting with National
Security Bureau President Shaykh Sabah Al-Khaled, the
Ambassador expressed appreciation for Kuwait's aggressive
response to recent terror activities and stressed the need
for Kuwait to sustain momentum in rounding up militants,
amending laws related to terror activities, and stemming the
flow of money between terrorists and their financiers. He
reiterated that the U.S. is ready to assist Kuwait in
training and would welcome bilateral discussions on terror
financing. Shaykh Sabah Al-Khaled informed the Ambassador of
a government-wide plan to combat terrorism which his bureau
would coordinate. He said key elements of the plan involved
reviewing existing laws on terrorism, defining "jihad,"
controlling charitable contributions, and educating Kuwait's
youth. He confirmed Kuwait would assist the Palestinian
people and agreed that Iran's interest in Iraq was cause for
concern. The Ambassador also raised the importance of the
resumption of Kuwaiti assistance to the Palestinian people
and noted U.S. concerns about Iranian interference in Iraq.
End Summary.

National Security Bureau to Coordinate CT Plan
-------------- -


2. (C) Ambassador LeBaron opened his March 14 meeting with
Kuwaiti National Security Bureau (NSB) President Shaykh Sabah
Al-Khaled Al-Sabah by commending the GOK's aggressive
response to recent terror incidents and asking for Shaykh
Sabah Al-Khaled's impressions on Kuwait's CT activities.
Shaykh Sabah Al-Khaled reported that in a closed session of
the National Assembly in February, Prime Minister Shaykh
Sabah Al-Ahmed Al-Jaber Al-Sabah announced a 10-point plan of
action and a three-year budget of 5.5M KD (nearly USD 19M
)for CT activities. Implementation of the action plan
involves the ministries of Interior, Awqaf and Islamic
Affairs, Social Affairs and Labor, Information, Finance,
Education, and Justice. NSB was tasked with coordination of
the government's CT work and will review the individual
action plans of each ministry, monitor intra-ministry
coordination, and submit a monthly report to the Council of
Ministers. Several committees had been formed under the
leadership of various ministries to strengthen the oversight
of charitable organizations and to review the range of laws
on terrorism. Shaykh Sabah Al-Khaled noted that a particular
focus was narrowing the definition of "jihad" to prevent
insurgents such as Hamed Al-Ali from pleading freedom of
speech when inciting jihad. He added the GOK made it a
priority to "concentrate on the hearts and minds of young
people."

GOK Wants to Know Who's Behind the Terrorists
--------------


3. (C) Commenting on the law enforcement aspect of Kuwait's
CT activities, Shaykh Sabah Al-Khaled said the raid on the
Peninsula Lions cell yielded lots of useful information on
terror cells (ref c). Although the GOK, in his opinion, has
stayed one step ahead of the militants, unknown cells remain
a potential threat, and he noted that Mohsen Al-Fadhli and
Khaled Al-Dosari are still at large. The GOK was also
targeting Kuwaitis in Iraq and Syria, with a goal of
uncovering who recruited them, financed their travel, trained
them, armed them, and harbored them. He was appreciative of
information provided by post on four alleged Kuwaitis in U.S.
custody in Iraq -- he confirmed two were indeed Kuwaiti
nationals -- and said the GOK would investigate who
facilitated their travel and assisted them.

Terror Financing Must Be a Priority
--------------


4. (C) The Ambassador remarked that NSB's coordinating role
was very important as a comprehensive CT strategy had many
facets. He again offered training assistance as a way to
sustain momentum in Kuwait's contributions to the Global War
on Terror. He said he was pleased to see the removal of
illegal charity kiosks, a source of untraceable funds, and
believed attacking terror financing was key to Kuwait's CT
assault (ref c). The Ambassador further emphasized the need
for a means to monitor cash flows out of the country. He
explained the U.S. did not want to outlaw transfers, but
rather encouraged the GOK to require declarations for large
sums of money as a deterrent against cash flows for terror
funding. He also recommended that the Financial Intelligence
Unit (FIU) of the Central Bank be able to share information
promptly with other FIUs without seeking approval from the
Public Prosecutor for each occurrence.

5. (C) Shaykh Sabah Al-Khaled affirmed the GOK intended to
focus on money laundering and money transfers, thus the
February decision to join the UN Convention on the
Suppression of Terror Financing, but commented that in the
recent cases they investigated, money was transferred
hand-to-hand (much of it from Saudi Arabia) and bank
transactions were rare. Another complicating factor
explained the Shaykh was the "khums," the annual donation the
Shi'a community makes to its clerics. He reported that
Kuwaiti Shi'a, targeted for their wealth, give one-fifth of
their annual profits to religious leaders, including SISTANI
and Al Sadr, and there was no means to control how the funds
were used. Another challenge, according Shaykh Thamer
Al-Sabah, the Office Director for Shaykh Sabah Al-Khaled, was
legitimate Kuwaiti charities whose overseas branches were
operated by non-Kuwaitis. The GOK trusted the Kuwaiti
proprietors, but learned the hard way in Afghanistan, that
local staff could easily divert funds for other purposes. As
a result, part of the action plan of the Ministry of Social
Affairs and Labor, was to play a formal role in the
management of Kuwaiti charitable donations overseas. As an
example, the Shaykh commended Saudi Arabia's use of UN
organizations to disperse charitable contributions to the
Palestinians, but said the system would not work in Kuwait
because charities, although under the umbrella of the
Ministry of Social Affairs and Labor, operated independent of
the government. (Note: The Ambassador commended the GOK
decision to sign the Terror Financing Convention and
encouraged the GOK to approve the last of the 12
international terrorism conventions: the Convention for the
Suppression of Terrorist Bombings. Shaykh Thamer reported
March 15 that the GOK deposited the convention with the UN in
April 2004 (ref a). End Note.)

Iran, Iraq, and the PA
--------------


6. (C) Turning to regional issues, Shaykh Sabah Al-Khaled
said Kuwait would fulfill its financial obligations to the
Palestinian people and looked forward to additional meetings
with PA Finance Minister Salam Fayyad in order to assure that
Kuwaiti assistance goes to the right places. On Iran, he
said the GOK was aware of Iranian interference in Iraq prior
to the elections, but could not confirm whether Iran
continued to meddle, although he was certain Iran maintained
an interest in the formation of the Iraqi Transitional
Government (ref b). Continuing with Iran, he said that GOK
and GOI had finally reached an agreement on a gas deal in
which Iran will supply daily 300 million cubic geet of
natural gas, but the water agreement was stalled (ref d). He
voiced concern about the delay in forming the ITG, but agreed
with the Ambassador that it was important for the General
Assembly to meet March 16.

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LEBARON