KUWAIT COUNTERTERRORISM WORKING GROUP MEETING

S E C R E T SECTION 01 OF 02 KUWAIT 000730

SIPDIS

NOFORN

DEPT FOR NEA/ARPI AND S/CT; NSC FOR TOWNSEND

E.O. 12958: DECL: 02/13/2015
TAGS: PTER PREL PGOV EFIN ASEC MARR CVIS KU TERRORISM
SUBJECT: KUWAIT COUNTERTERRORISM WORKING GROUP MEETING

REF: 04 KUWAIT 4559 (NOTAL)

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


1. (S/NF) Ambassador chaired February 14 a meeting of
post's Counterterrorism Working Group (CWG) to review
developments in Kuwait's counterterrorism activities
following the January discovery of a terrorist cell, and to
identify areas where post can enhance its CT activities as
well as strengthen the GOK's CT capabilities. The group
addressed GOK legislation to combat terror, loopholes or
missing laws, and training. In addition to the Ambassador
and DCM, participants included section heads from RSO, POL,
ECON, CONS, RMAS, and the Office of Military Cooperation -
Kuwait (OMC-K).

Slowly Building a Solid Legal Basis to Combat Terror
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2. (U) The CWG opened with a review of the GOK's CT
legislation. Kuwait is party to ten of the 12 international
counterterrorism conventions and protocols and the Council of
Ministers (COM) recently submitted for Parliamentary approval
the 1999 Convention for the Suppression of the Financing of
Terrorism. The GOK has not yet taken any action regarding
the 1990 Convention for the Suppression of Terrorist
Bombings. Post will continue to engage the GOK on the need to
sign and ratify this convention. Kuwait is also a party to
the Arab League Convention for the Suppression of Terrorism
and the Convention of the Organization of the Islamic
Conference on Combating International Terrorism. In
addition, Kuwait and its GCC partners signed in May 2004 a
counterterrorism pact designed to boost coordination and the
exchange of information among member states. In response to
recent terror activities, the GOK has proposed a law on the
seizure of arms, ammunition, and explosives, and a group of
five MPs suggested amendments to the penal code to increase
jail time and fines for surveillance type activities and
inciting violence. Post will track proposed legislation as
it moves through Parliament.


3. (C) On the financial side, the GOK established a
Financial Intelligence Unit (FIU) to monitor suspected money
laundering operations. Unfortunately the FIU is limited in
its ability to share information with other FIUs due to the
need for specific case-by-case authorization from the Public
Prosecutor's Office. As a result, Kuwait's FIU is currently
ineligible to join the Egmont group, an international forum
for 94 nations' FIUs to share financial data regarding money
laundering and suspected terrorist financing operations. New
legislation is required and post will press the GOK to take
action with a view toward Kuwait becoming eligible for
membership in 2006. Post will also encourage the GOK to
adopt legislation criminalizing terrorist financing,
particularly now that the GOK has approved the Terror
Financing Convention. A specific need is strengthened
legislation requiring customs declaration of cash exports.
Post continues to seek examples of effective terror finance
legislation from the Arab world which Kuwait could use as a
model (reftel). Post also seeks a response to its request to
the Office of Overseas Prosecutorial Development for a
needs-assessment team and specialized program.

Visa Processing
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4. (U) CONS briefed the CWG on current nonimmigrant visa
processing procedures, including personal appearance waiver
criteria, biovisa (index fingerprint scanning) criteria,
Visas Condor SAO criteria, procedures to resolve CLASS hits,
Visas Mantis SAOs, IDENT, and facial biometric scanning.
Consular Chief noted that post scrupulously follows all
Department regulations, CA SOPs and CA/VO guidance for visa
processing. Finally, he reviewed Visas Viper Committee
functions.

Lack of Inter-Ministry Cooperation Impedes CT Action
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5. (S/NF) RMAS and OMC-K gave the GOK a positive assessment
of its recent action against terror cells. Over a three-week
period, the GOK aggressively responded to the presence of a
25-member cell and continues to track several targets.
Throughout, Kuwait State Security (KSS) kept post well
informed and continues to share information. Despite the
overall successful outcome, the death rate for security
forces involved in the raids appeared high and suggests that
tactical training might be useful. There is also a need for
better coordination among Kuwait's security elements; the
Ministry of Interior (MOI) has the lead for CT activities and
organizations such as the Amiri Guard and the National Guard,
a competent and able force trained by American contractor
MPRI, have specific duties, but there is very limited
interaction among the two bodies.

Continued Need for Training
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6. (S/NF) The CWG also addressed training for Kuwaiti
officials. Since 1996, Post has sponsored 485 Kuwaiti
students in 23 Anti-Terrorism Assistance (ATA) courses. The
GOK has requested, at GOK expense, security operations center
training for a group of mid-level managers associated with
the Security Decision Follow-up Committee (SDFC) who will be
responsible for Shuaiba Port and surrounding areas. OMC-K
already includes this group in CENTCOM consequence management
training and intends to invite representatives from the MOI.
The GOK has not yet accepted training offered by RMAS.
LEBARON