NATIONAL SECURITY BUREAU WELCOMES CRITICAL ENERGY

C O N F I D E N T I A L KUWAIT 000790 SIPDIS NOFORN SIPDIS STATE FOR PM, S/CT, DS/ATA, NEA/ARP; NSC FOR JESSEE; ENERGY FOR KOLEVAR E.O. 12958: DECL: 05/18/2017 TAGS: EPET KCIP ASEC KU SUBJECT: NATIONAL SECURITY BUREAU WELCOMES CRITICAL ENERGY INFRASTRUCTURE SECURITY REPORTS, SUPPORTS FOLLOW-UP REF: KUWAIT 782 AND PREVIOUS Classified By: Ambassador Richard LeBaron for reasons 1.4 (b) and (d). ¶1. (C/NF) Continuing a series of calls on the senior GOK leadership, the Ambassador on May 19 hand-delivered hard copies of two Critical Energy Infrastructure Protection (CEIP) reports from assessments conducted by a State-DHS-DOE-USCG team on 13-21 May and a USCENTCOM J-3 team on 1-4 February to Kuwait National Security Bureau President Shaykh Ahmed Al-Fahad Al-Sabah and his deputy Shaykh Thamer Al-Ali Al-Sabah. Shaykh Ahmed expressed appreciation for ongoing USG cooperation on CEIP, saying, "We are very worried about this. We know that (our energy infrastructure) is the biggest target for our enemies. We know about our weaknesses in this area, especially in communications and coordination, but we needed to get a reliable second opinion." Supporting statements previously made by the Prime Minister, Interior Minister, and Oil Minister (reftels),Shaykh Ahmed confirmed that Chairman of the Security Decision Follow-up Committee (SDFC) General Mohammed Al-Bader will be in charge of CEIP coordination going forward. He said that General Al-Bader will participate in CEIP discussions during the Gulf Security Dialogue (GSD) meeting to take place in Kuwait on 22 May. ¶2. (C/NF) Comment: The agenda for the 22 May GSD meeting is broad, including regional security, counter-proliferation, Iraq security, and other issues. We suggest that discussion of CEIP in this forum should be limited to a high-level summary of the principal findings from the assessments and a mention of the upcoming follow-up visit by USG CEIP experts tentatively scheduled for June 12-13. The GOK reps may make some remarks on steps they have taken and plans to move forward. The June visit is a more appropriate venue for discussion of specific implementation details. Overall, the two CEIP assessments have been well-received by the leaders of all the Kuwaiti agencies involved. There seems to be consensus among the Kuwaitis that CEIP enhancements should begin as soon as possible, supported by guidance from USG experts, and that General Mohammed Al-Bader of SDFC will be the principal coordinator and implementer for Kuwaiti CEIP efforts. ********************************************* * 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/ ********************************************* * LeBaron