Identifier
Created
Classification
Origin
08KUWAIT499
2008-05-07 04:56:00
UNCLASSIFIED
Embassy Kuwait
Cable title:
CORRECTED COPY - KUWAIT MEDIA REACTION - KUWAITI AND FORMER
how-toVZCZCXRO7204 RR RUEHBC RUEHDE RUEHKUK RUEHROV DE RUEHKU #0499/01 1280456 ZNR UUUUU ZZH R 070456Z MAY 08 FM AMEMBASSY KUWAIT TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC 1360 RUEKJCS/SECDEF WASHDC RHEHAAA/WHITE HOUSE WASHDC RUEHEE/ARAB LEAGUE COLLECTIVE RHWSMRC/USCINCCENT MACDILL AFB FL//CCPA
UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 02 KUWAIT 000499
SIPDIS
STATE FOR NEA/ARP, NEA/PA, NEA/AIA, NEA/PI, INR/NESA, R/MR, I/GNEA,
B/BXN, B/BRN, NEA/PPD, NEA/IPA
LONDON FOR NEA WATCHER
PARIS FOR NEA WATCHER
C O R R E C T E D C O P Y (Name change in first para)
E.O. 12958: N/A
TAGS: OPRC KMDR KPAO XF KU MEDIA REACTION
SUBJECT: CORRECTED COPY - KUWAIT MEDIA REACTION - KUWAITI AND FORMER
GUANTANAMO DETAINEE ALLEGEDLY BEHIND RECENT MOSUL SUICIDE ATTACK
KUWAIT 00000499 001.3 OF 002
--------------
Summary
--------------
Monday, May 5, 2008
Summary: Kuwaiti citizen and Guantanamo Bay detainee, Abdullah
Al-Ajmi, and his friend Naser Al-Dosary, also Kuwaiti, are alleged
to have been behind a recent suicide bombing in Mosul, Iraq. Almost
all Kuwaiti newspapers have criticized the attacks and extremism in
general, with the exception of Al-Watan, which characterized Al-Ajmi
as a martyr. According to al-Qabas newspaper, anonymous sources
have reported that Al-Ajmi was not psychologically sound due to
torture allegedly conducted at Guantanamo Bay. As a reaction to
news of the attack, the government of Kuwait announced to the media
that the Ministry of Interior is considering the creation of a
center to rehabilitate extremists returning to Kuwait from
Guantanamo Bay. End summary.
Block Quotes:
-- In an investigative report, the conservative Kuwaiti daily
Al-Watan quoted an unidentified cousin of Al-Ajmi (05/03): "it
seems he managed to get his passport issued either by sympathy or by
bribes. Moreover, as we thank the Government of Kuwait for providing
the ex-Guantanamo detainees a decent life, we call upon the Ministry
to investigate this matter because whoever helped Abdullah led him
to his death."
-- Also in al-Watan, conservative columnist Shamlan Yousef Al-Issa
commented (05/04): "What lesson shall we learn from this painful
incident...First, we have sleeping terrorist cells and Islamic
Jihadist organizations that are working on getting the means to move
them abroad...Why are the Jihadists in Kuwait keen to fight the
Americans outside and not inside Kuwait? It is obvious that
Al-Qaeda refuses to take on the security establishment in Kuwait
because, unlike the governments in the Arab region, the Kuwaiti
government is sympathetic with extremism. Second, the prison
authorities in Guantanamo Bay are very aware that the detainees will
resume jihadist activities as soon as they get the chance to do so.
This is what happened, and it will absolutely delay the release of
the other detainees in the American prison. We need more than a
center of rehabilitation. We need a wide study about the reasons
behind extremism of school students. We are in need also of knowing
why hate has spread between Shiite and Sunni in the public
schools."
-- Additionally, in al-Watan, under the headline "Youth's life ...
and the Mistaken Jihad," Abdul Rahman Al-Najjar opined (05/04): "It
[this problem] lies in the strict religious thinking and with the
"clerks" of destruction who are no more able to differentiate
between construction and destruction."
-- In the newly established moderate Kuwaiti daily, Al-Jarida,
columnist Mothaffar Abdullah commented (05/04): "...we should not
blame only the Ministry of Interior for this matter because the
Ministries of Information and Awqaf (Endowments) should also assume
their responsibilities. It is not only a question of security, the
terrorism and its mobilization of youth should be handled also by
the Ministries of Information and Awqaf because they are
embarrassing Kuwait in front of the United Nations Security Council
and they are affecting our relations with the United States. The
detainees should have undergone a program of social, psychological,
and religious rehabilitation. What happened to Abdullah Al-Ajmi and
Nasser Al-Dousary causes us to ask the Moderation Committee, founded
by the Ministry of Awquaf to spread moderate thought, why it has not
thought of meeting with these ex-prisoners, especially as Abdullah
Al-Ajmi kept on justifying his visits to Pakistan to learn the
Shari'a Law? It would have been better if the committee pointed out
to him the religious institute in Qortoba [a district of Kuwait
City], which is closer than Pakistan."
-- In the newly established moderate Arabic daily, Al-Awan, Mohammad
Hussein Al-Yousefi wondered (05/04): "It is not clear in our current
situation concerning specifically Abdullah Al-Ajmi, the role of
state security in controlling such persons. How was he able to
escape and end up in Mosul? This person was an ex-Guantanamo
detainee. Whether we agree with the American administration about
the legality of the prison, al-Ajmi went to Afghanistan while he was
very young, and indeed, he was not there for tourism purposes! We
are just asking if is it possible that as soon as authorities
pronounced his innocence in Kuwait, if state security stopped
monitoring him."
********************************************* *
For more reporting from Embassy Kuwait, visit:
KUWAIT 00000499 002 OF 002
http://www.state.sgov.gov/p/nea/kuwait/?cable s
Visit Kuwait's Classified Website:
http://www.state.sgov.gov/p/nea/kuwait/
********************************************* *
JONES
SIPDIS
STATE FOR NEA/ARP, NEA/PA, NEA/AIA, NEA/PI, INR/NESA, R/MR, I/GNEA,
B/BXN, B/BRN, NEA/PPD, NEA/IPA
LONDON FOR NEA WATCHER
PARIS FOR NEA WATCHER
C O R R E C T E D C O P Y (Name change in first para)
E.O. 12958: N/A
TAGS: OPRC KMDR KPAO XF KU MEDIA REACTION
SUBJECT: CORRECTED COPY - KUWAIT MEDIA REACTION - KUWAITI AND FORMER
GUANTANAMO DETAINEE ALLEGEDLY BEHIND RECENT MOSUL SUICIDE ATTACK
KUWAIT 00000499 001.3 OF 002
--------------
Summary
--------------
Monday, May 5, 2008
Summary: Kuwaiti citizen and Guantanamo Bay detainee, Abdullah
Al-Ajmi, and his friend Naser Al-Dosary, also Kuwaiti, are alleged
to have been behind a recent suicide bombing in Mosul, Iraq. Almost
all Kuwaiti newspapers have criticized the attacks and extremism in
general, with the exception of Al-Watan, which characterized Al-Ajmi
as a martyr. According to al-Qabas newspaper, anonymous sources
have reported that Al-Ajmi was not psychologically sound due to
torture allegedly conducted at Guantanamo Bay. As a reaction to
news of the attack, the government of Kuwait announced to the media
that the Ministry of Interior is considering the creation of a
center to rehabilitate extremists returning to Kuwait from
Guantanamo Bay. End summary.
Block Quotes:
-- In an investigative report, the conservative Kuwaiti daily
Al-Watan quoted an unidentified cousin of Al-Ajmi (05/03): "it
seems he managed to get his passport issued either by sympathy or by
bribes. Moreover, as we thank the Government of Kuwait for providing
the ex-Guantanamo detainees a decent life, we call upon the Ministry
to investigate this matter because whoever helped Abdullah led him
to his death."
-- Also in al-Watan, conservative columnist Shamlan Yousef Al-Issa
commented (05/04): "What lesson shall we learn from this painful
incident...First, we have sleeping terrorist cells and Islamic
Jihadist organizations that are working on getting the means to move
them abroad...Why are the Jihadists in Kuwait keen to fight the
Americans outside and not inside Kuwait? It is obvious that
Al-Qaeda refuses to take on the security establishment in Kuwait
because, unlike the governments in the Arab region, the Kuwaiti
government is sympathetic with extremism. Second, the prison
authorities in Guantanamo Bay are very aware that the detainees will
resume jihadist activities as soon as they get the chance to do so.
This is what happened, and it will absolutely delay the release of
the other detainees in the American prison. We need more than a
center of rehabilitation. We need a wide study about the reasons
behind extremism of school students. We are in need also of knowing
why hate has spread between Shiite and Sunni in the public
schools."
-- Additionally, in al-Watan, under the headline "Youth's life ...
and the Mistaken Jihad," Abdul Rahman Al-Najjar opined (05/04): "It
[this problem] lies in the strict religious thinking and with the
"clerks" of destruction who are no more able to differentiate
between construction and destruction."
-- In the newly established moderate Kuwaiti daily, Al-Jarida,
columnist Mothaffar Abdullah commented (05/04): "...we should not
blame only the Ministry of Interior for this matter because the
Ministries of Information and Awqaf (Endowments) should also assume
their responsibilities. It is not only a question of security, the
terrorism and its mobilization of youth should be handled also by
the Ministries of Information and Awqaf because they are
embarrassing Kuwait in front of the United Nations Security Council
and they are affecting our relations with the United States. The
detainees should have undergone a program of social, psychological,
and religious rehabilitation. What happened to Abdullah Al-Ajmi and
Nasser Al-Dousary causes us to ask the Moderation Committee, founded
by the Ministry of Awquaf to spread moderate thought, why it has not
thought of meeting with these ex-prisoners, especially as Abdullah
Al-Ajmi kept on justifying his visits to Pakistan to learn the
Shari'a Law? It would have been better if the committee pointed out
to him the religious institute in Qortoba [a district of Kuwait
City], which is closer than Pakistan."
-- In the newly established moderate Arabic daily, Al-Awan, Mohammad
Hussein Al-Yousefi wondered (05/04): "It is not clear in our current
situation concerning specifically Abdullah Al-Ajmi, the role of
state security in controlling such persons. How was he able to
escape and end up in Mosul? This person was an ex-Guantanamo
detainee. Whether we agree with the American administration about
the legality of the prison, al-Ajmi went to Afghanistan while he was
very young, and indeed, he was not there for tourism purposes! We
are just asking if is it possible that as soon as authorities
pronounced his innocence in Kuwait, if state security stopped
monitoring him."
********************************************* *
For more reporting from Embassy Kuwait, visit:
KUWAIT 00000499 002 OF 002
http://www.state.sgov.gov/p/nea/kuwait/?cable s
Visit Kuwait's Classified Website:
http://www.state.sgov.gov/p/nea/kuwait/
********************************************* *
JONES