APHSCT TOWNSEND'S 11/13 MEETING WITH KUWAIT NSB

S E C R E T SECTION 01 OF 03 KUWAIT 004510 SIPDIS NOFORN SIPDIS STATE FOR NEA/I AND NEA/ARP, NSC FOR RAMCHAND E.O. 12958: DECL: 11/24/2016 TAGS: PTER PREL PGOV EFIN IZ KU TERRORISM SUBJECT: APHSCT TOWNSEND'S 11/13 MEETING WITH KUWAIT NSB PRESIDENT AHMED AL-FAHD REF: A. A. KUWAIT 4425 ¶B. B. KUWAIT 3597 ¶C. C. STATE 180168 ¶D. D. STATE 136710 Classified By: Charge d'Affaires Matt Tueller for reasons 1.4 (b) and ( d). ¶1. (S/NF) Summary: APHSCT Frances Fragos Townsend met November 13 with Kuwait National Security Bureau President Shaykh Ahmed Al-Fahd to discuss counterterrorism cooperation, energy security, and regional developments. Shaykh Ahmed sought reassurances on U.S. policy in Iraq. He encouraged the U.S. to engage Iraqi Sunnis and reported on his meetings with several Sunni leaders in Kuwait in late-October. On energy security, Shaykh Ahmed said Kuwait accepted "all your proposals," referring to the Gulf Security Dialogue paper recently passed to the Kuwaiti government (refs A and C). He claimed Kuwait-based extremists were "under control" and warned Townsend that any U.S. designation would affect their cooperation with Kuwaiti intelligence and jeopardize access to valuable intelligence information. Townsend raised U.S. concerns about the Revival of Islamic Heritage Society (RIHS) and encouraged Kuwait to fully implement international standards to regulate cash couriers. She also suggested establishing a system for exchanging fingerprint data, something Shaykh Ahmed agreed would be beneficial. End Summary. ¶2. (S/NF) Assistant to the President for Homeland Security and Counterterrorism (APHSCT) Frances Fragos Townsend met November 13 with Shaykh Ahmed Al-Fahd Al-Jaber Al-Sabah, the new President of the Kuwaiti National Security Bureau. Shaykh Ahmed expressed concern that the newly-elected Congress could pressure President Bush to alter his strategy in Iraq. Townsend reassured Shaykh Ahmed that the President was committed to seeing a stable, democratic Iraq and that, while he was open to discussing tactical changes with the new congressional leaders, he was firmly opposed to adopting a timetable for withdrawing U.S. troops. Shaykh Ahmed said Kuwait was "following these developments closely," but wanted to be notified of any change in tactics. "Whatever the strategy (on Iraq),we will cooperate. We just don't want to be surprised," he said. "We want to make sure we are both working in the same direction." Iraqi Sunnis Open to Dialogue -------------- ¶3. (S/NF) Shaykh Ahmed said he met in late October with several Iraqi Sunni leaders on a "low-profile" visit to Kuwait; they did not meet with any other Kuwaiti government (GOK) officials. He was "surprised" that their first priority now was Al-Qaeda, not the U.S., and that they were increasingly worried about Iranian influence, particularly over Shi'a militias in southern Iraq. Noting Islamic militants' recent declaration of an Islamic state in western Iraq, Shaykh Ahmed said the Sunnis had complained that Al-Qaeda in Iraq (AQI) was trying to usurp leadership of the Sunni community, which represented a threat to the traditional Sunni leadership. They also believed that, although it received logistical support from Syria, AQI was "coming from Iran." According to Shaykh Ahmed, "the (Iraqi) Sunnis think they are surrounded" and have changed their strategy "180 degrees...These are not the same Sunnis we heard a year ago." Shaykh Ahmed claimed the Sunnis, apparently former Ba'athists, were prepared to offer "generous information" on AQI leadership and activities, and noted that Kuwait would keep "open channels of communication" with them. He added, though, that "we never trust them" and "will be careful not to give them financial support." ¶4. (S/NF) The Sunni leaders told Shaykh Ahmed that they recently started a dialogue with the U.S. through Ambassador Khalilzad, something Shaykh Ahmed encouraged, although he acknowledged that some of their conditions were "unreasonable." He argued that the Sunnis' interest in a dialogue and their increasing concern about both AQI and Iran were positive developments and were forcing them to reconsider their strategy. In light of these developments, Shaykh Ahmed stressed that "now is a good time to start a dialogue," which he said Kuwait would be willing to facilitate. He also noted that the Saudis wanted to cooperate more closely with Kuwait to engage the Sunnis in Iraq. KUWAIT 00004510 002 OF 003 ¶5. (S/NF) Shaykh Ahmed claimed the Sunnis were increasingly divided between those supporting "(Iraqi Vice President Tariq) Al-Hashimi and his people close to the government" and those opposing him. "We met with the 50% who no longer support (Al-Hashimi)," Shaykh Ahmed said. Shaykh Thamer Al-Sabah, Shaykh Ahmed's Office Director, emphasized the need for U.S. feedback on the Sunnis' claims, particularly their alleged dialogue with the U.S., to ensure that "we are not getting played." Townsend agreed on the need for greater transparency between the U.S. and Kuwait on intelligence. Shaykh Ahmed offered to provide a full report on his meetings with the Sunni leaders. GOK Accepts All GSD Proposals -------------- ¶6. (S/NF) Turning to energy security, Shaykh Ahmed said Kuwait accepted "all your proposals" and would gladly receive U.S. advisors, as proposed by the Gulf Security Dialogue (GSD) initiatives paper recently passed to the GOK (refs A and C). He agreed that oil facilities were likely targets for any terrorist attack. Shaykh Ahmed noted that Kuwait was already receiving security advice from international oil companies, but would welcome additional expert advisors from the U.S. "It is very necessary to start a (security) dialogue given the situation in the region," he said. Extremists in Kuwait "Under Control" -------------- ¶7. (S/NF) Asked about Kuwait-based extremists Hamed Al-Ali, Mubarak Al-Bathali, and Jaber Al-Jalamah (ref D), Shaykh Ahmed said, "We believe we are doing a good job keeping them under control." He explained that Kuwait State Security (KSS) had "good cooperation with them on intelligence" and was "following up almost daily on their activities." "Our strategy has succeeded so far," both in preventing "accidents" in Kuwait and Kuwaiti involvement in terrorist activities in Iraq, Shaykh Ahmed said. Any action taken against these individuals, such as a U.S. designation, would jeopardize this cooperation and, consequently, "we would lose access to valuable intelligence," he argued. Shaykh Ahmed confirmed that "100 percent" Kuwait would not/not co-sponsor UN designations with the U.S. of these three individuals and reiterated his warning that even a unilateral U.S. designation would likely cause them to "change their tactics" and stop cooperating with KSS. ¶8. (S/NF) According to Shaykh Ahmed, KSS "opened a new file on Hizballah" after the recent conflict between Israel and Hizballah. He reported that they have since gathered "a lot of good information" on Hizballah activities in Kuwait. Shaykh Ahmed expressed concern about the activities of former Ba'athists, Al-Qaeda, and Iranian intelligence in Iraq, and said Kuwait's "main worry is that the Shi'a or Ba'athists will do something in Kuwait and blame it on Al-Qaeda." He said he hoped the U.S. would not do anything to make the regional situation even more complicated, particularly before the replacement for former Director of KSS Shaykh Athbi, Shaykh Ahmed's brother, was fully installed in his position. Concerns about RIHS and Cash Couriers -------------- ¶9. (S/NF) Townsend raised the possible designation of the Bangladeshi, Bosnian, and Albanian branches of the Revival of Islamic Heritage Society (RIHS),a Kuwait-based Islamic charity organization. Shaykh Thamer said the Bangladeshi government told Kuwaiti officials they had "no problems" with RIHS activities in their country. Shaykh Ahmed promised to follow up on the issue, but again stressed that "we will lose something" if the U.S. proceeds with its designation. ¶10. (S/NF) Townsend emphasized the importance of implementing internationally-agreed upon cash courier rules and offered U.S. assistance and expertise to improve Kuwaiti controls in this area. Shaykh Ahmed promised to re-examine the details of a resolution recently passed by the Cabinet dealing with this issue and to speak with the Kuwaiti officials responsible for cash courier regulations. "Let us (the GOK) work on this," he said. "The Government is ready to do what we need to do." Shaykh Thamer noted that Kuwait was working on this with the UN and claimed travelers leaving Kuwait with more than KUWAIT 00004510 003 OF 003 $100,000 were required to declare it and provide details on where the money was going. (Comment: In-bound travelers to Kuwait are required by law to declare currency, but there is no uniform enforcement of this regulation. There is currently no outbound requirement, though GOK officials are preparing more stringent entry/exit case declaration controls, including a new declaration form (ref B). End comment.) Kuwait Open to Exchanging Fingerprint Data -------------- ¶11. (S/NF) Noting the success of fingerprint collection and databasing in Iraq and Saudi Arabia, Townsend suggested establishing a system for exchanging fingerprint data with Kuwait. Shaykh Ahmed agreed that such an exchange would be beneficial, adding that the GOK was worried terrorists could use Kuwait as a logistics or transit base for their activities in the region. He promised to raise the issue with the Ministries of Defense and Interior. "We just need to see in what area (the exchange would take place): immigration or intelligence," he stated. Concerns about Iran and Hamas -------------- ¶12. (S/NF) Shaykh Ahmed asked about the current status of U.S. policy on Iran. Townsend said Secretary Rice was cautiously optimistic that the UN would pass a resolution on Iran, which would likely include financial sanctions. She noted that the U.S. was already working with its allies to put pressure on financial institutions with ties to Iranian banks and to prevent Iran from dollarizing its oil assets. She encouraged Gulf countries to exert more pressure on the Europeans in this regard. Shaykh Ahmed said he had heard reports that Iran was stockpiling dollars, food, and other goods to cushion the potential blow of economic sanctions. He also reported that Iran was improving its relations with Dubai and Qatar, citing Iran's new port deal with Qatar as an example of this new cooperation. ¶13. (S/NF) Shaykh Ahmed also asked about the situation in the Palestine territories. Townsend said she believed the pressure exerted on Hamas by the international community and the responsibilities of governing were having results, pushing Hamas into making a deal. She said there was still an opportunity to strengthen Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas, but stressed that he must present a viable partner for the Israelis to work with. Shaykh Ahmed said that while he hoped Hamas Political Bureau Chief Khalid Mishal would "change his behavior" and would "no longer be involved with the Iranians," he had doubts this would happen. "It is a problem for the entire region if Hamas is controlled by Iran," he concluded. ********************************************* * For more reporting from Embassy Kuwait, visit: http://www.state.sgov.gov/p/nea/kuwait/?cable s Visit Kuwait's Classified Website: http://www.state.sgov.gov/p/nea/kuwait/ ********************************************* * Tueller