NON-PAPER ON REVIVAL OF ISLAMIC HERITAGE SOCIETY

S E C R E T STATE 025359 E.O. 12958: DECL: 02/25/2006 TAGS: KTFN PGOV PTER KU SUBJECT: NON-PAPER ON REVIVAL OF ISLAMIC HERITAGE SOCIETY REF: KUWAIT 251 (NOTAL) Classified By: NEA DAS Gordon Gray for reasons 1.4 (b) and (d). ¶1. (U) This is an action request; please see paragraphs four and five. ¶2. (S) The Department is concerned about reports in other channels that link several foreign branches of the Kuwaiti NGO, Revival of Islamic Heritage Society (RIHS) to terrorist organizations. The Department requests that post deliver the non-paper in paragraph four on RIHS branches that have been raided by the host governments in Bangladesh, and Albania, and by European forces (EUROR) in Bosnia, as well as the talking points in paragraph four, to the appropriate Kuwaiti officials. At this point, post should NOT/NOT raise concerns about other RIHS branches. Treasury U/S Stuart Levey will also pass the document to the Kuwaiti Ambassador in Washington (date TBD). ¶3. (S) As a Kuwaiti-based and -financed charity, RIHS carries the Kuwaiti "brand name." For this reason, even if acting "independently", Kuwaiti charities are perceived as a de facto Kuwaiti responsibility. The USG seeks to use the full force of its influence to convince the GOK to address abuses of Kuwaiti charities. The Department would like to engage this Major non-NATO ally as a full partner to combat terrorist finance. The terrorist finance PCC is considering available policy objectives, including designating the RIHS branches in Bosnia, Albania, and Bangladesh under E.O. 13224 and in the UN 1267 Committee. Department would welcome post's view on the likely GOK reaction to these designations and the possibility of Kuwaiti co-designation in the UN. ¶4. (S/REL KWT) Action Request: Department requests post deliver the following talking points to the appropriate Kuwaiti interlocutors. Begin points: -- We are grateful for the Government of Kuwait's (GOK) strong commitment to countering terrorism and look to the GOK as a full partner in the multifaceted struggle against terrorism and extremism. -- We recognize the challenges faced by the GOK in regard to oversight and regulation of non-governmental organizations (NGOs) based in Kuwait. -- The international community is closely watching GOK actions to ensure that Kuwait-based and -financed charities operating abroad are not providing financing to terrorists. -- International concerns about Kuwaiti NGOs supporting overseas terrorist activity were formally registered in the 2002 with U.S. and U.N. designations of the Revival of Islamic Heritage Society (RIHS) offices in Pakistan and Afghanistan. -- Despite these steps and increased GOK regulation, recent information suggests that RIHS offices in Bosnia, Albania, and Bangladesh continue to support terrorist networks. -- We are providing you information available to the U.S. government on these branches. -- RIHS officials claim that the findings of RIHS accountants operating inside and outside of Kuwait are known to the Central Bank and MFA. We would be interested in learning from you what accounting procedures are in place for charities such as RIHS. End points. ¶5. (U) Please deliver the following non-paper on RIHS offices in Bosnia, Albania, and Bangladesh to the appropriate Kuwaiti officials: Begin text (U) RIHS is an NGO headquartered in Kuwait, with over a dozen known branch offices worldwide including in Bosnia, Albania, and Bangladesh. RIHS offices in Bosnia, Albania, and Bangladesh engage in development and relief work; however, these activities are sometimes used as cover for providing support to terrorist organizations and promoting extremist doctrine. As recently as 2005, information available to the U.S. identified RIHS in Bosnia, Albania, and Bangladesh as entities affiliated with terrorist activities. (U) RIHS Bangladesh: Funding Groups Engaged in Terrorist Attacks (U) Information available to the U.S. Government shows that RIHS in Bangladesh provides substantial financing to extremist organizations. RIHS has funded Ahle Hadith Andolon Bangladesh (AHAB),which provides material support to militant group Jamaatul Mujahedin Bangladesh (JMB). The stated goal of the JMB is to capture state power and impose an extremist brand of Islamic law through armed revolution. (U) On August 17, 2005, the JMB launched attacks across Bangladesh, exploding over 450 bombs almost simultaneously in 63 of Bangladesh's 64 provinces, killing two and injuring 64 persons. RIHS in Bangladesh has been identified as a key source of funds needed for staging the near-simultaneous explosions across the country. (U) As of January 2006, the Government of Bangladesh has placed restrictions on RIHS Bangladesh,s bank accounts. (U) RIHS Bosnia: Supporting Terrorist Networks (U) In July 2005, European Union military forces raided the Sarajevo offices of RIHS. RIHS Bosnia provided financial aid, through a local intermediary, to the spouses of known terrorists and extremists affiliated with al Qaida, Egypt's al-Gamaat al-Islamiyya, and Algeria's Armed Islamic Group, as well as those of detainees at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, according to information available to the U.S. Government. (U) In Bosnia, RIHS funds extremists and extremist groups tied to al Qaida. Information available to the U.S. Government shows that RIHS in Bosnia hides, shelters and launders money that allows extremists and their facilitators to fund terrorist-related activities, including education and training, travel, and document procurement. Money from RIHS accounts in Bosnia has also been laundered and used to fund individuals tied to international extremist groups, including al Qaida. (U) In 2005, the director of RIHS Bosnia, Uthman al-Haydar, hired an Algerian who was in close contact with Younes Hiyari, the recently killed al Qaida leader who topped Saudi Arabia,s most-wanted list. The Bosnia-based Algerian RIHS employee received two emails from al Qaida leader Hiyari on the day of his death. The Algerian RIHS employee is wanted by the Algerian government because of suspicious ties with terrorism. (U) RIHS Bosnia director al-Haydar has been tied to multiple NGOs in the Balkans responsible for assisting terrorist activities, according to information available to the U.S. Government. Al-Haydar is a former member of the el Mujahideen and Abu Zubeir mujahideen units from the Bosnian war. (U) Additional RIHS employees in Bosnia have been engaged in violent activities. In late 2004, a RIHS Bosnia employee was reportedly involved in trafficking explosives. This RIHS employee in Bosnia reportedly purchased several anti-personnel mines for delivery to a Balkans-based weapons trafficker, according to information available to the U.S. Government. Separately, in 2005, the director of RIHS Bosnia hired an Egyptian who was involved in a 1997 murder committed by extremists in front of the Islamic Balkan Center in Zenica, Bosnia. (U) RIHS Albania: Involvement with Terrorist Groups and Operations (U) In late 2005, Albanian authorities froze the offices used by the Tirana branch of RIHS Albania. This action followed an October 2001 Albanian raid of the RIHS Tirana headquarters that was reportedly involved in international Islamic extremist activity. As of September 2000, Albanian authorities had identified RIHS employees as members and supporters of the Egyptian Islamic Jihad, and suspected their involvement in terrorist operations. As of late 2005, information shows RIHS continues to operate in Albania through a new NGO, the Center for Call for Wisdom. End text. RICE