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