TERROR FINANCE: LIMITED MEDIA REACTION SO FAR TO

C O N F I D E N T I A L SECTION 01 OF 02 KUWAIT 000097 SIPDIS SIPDIS STATE FOR NEA/ARP, EEB/ESC/TFS; TREASURY FOR KRISTEN HECHT E.O. 12958: DECL: 01/23/2018 TAGS: EFIN PGOV PTER PREL KU KTFN SUBJECT: TERROR FINANCE: LIMITED MEDIA REACTION SO FAR TO 1267 DESIGNATIONS REF: A. 06 KUWAIT 4637 ¶B. KUWAIT 79 ¶C. KUWAIT 90 Classified By: Charge d'Affaires Alan G. Misenheimer for Reasons 1.4 (b ) and (d). ¶1. (SBU) Initial Kuwaiti media reaction to the January 16 decision by the UN Security Council to designate three Kuwaitis -- Hamed Al-Ali, Jaber Al-Jalahmah, and Mubarak Al-Bathali -- as terrorist facilitators and inciters has been subdued. There has been little reaction by the local press with the exception of defiant statements published by the designees themselves. News of the sanctions appeared in the English-language newspaper Kuwait Times on January 17 and on January 23 in the Arabic-language newspaper Alam Al-yawm. There has been no mention of the designees in the op-ed pages of the Kuwait newspapers. We saw a similar pattern a year ago, when the USG domestically designated these three Kuwaiti terrorist facilitators (Ref A). ¶2. (U) In an interview published on January 23 in the English-language newspaper Kuwait Times, Al-Ali and Al-Jalahmah referred to the UNSC decision to freeze their funds as a plot against them and said they would do their best to foil it. They both claimed that the UN's decision only reflected how helpless and contradictory the U.S. administration was and expressed their disappointment that the UN had totally neglected the "Zionist massacres against the people of Gaza." Al-Ali commented that the UN appeared to be too preoccupied with expanding the "US terrorism circle" by including "peaceful Kuwaitis who owned nothing more than their monthly salaries" in terrorists lists. He said, "This is typical of the double-standard policy adopted by the US-run UN," and added, "It is absolutely damaging and harmful to point ungrounded accusations of terrorism at anyone. It's against all human rights." ¶3. Al-Ali also responded to the designation by writing a poem, posted on jihadist websites, in which he expressed indifference toward the sanctions and more concern about the situation in Gaza. A translation of the poem follows. (Begin Text) One day, a noble man was amazed at our harsh tragedies that knew not gentleness nor softness. The soul will endure without failing or fear, for tragedies surface, but eventually will go their way. Today, I see calamities surrounding our Gaza, while the Security Council of terrorism accuses us. Justice, to them, is ingratitude and a farce, but have we known them as anything else but snakes? They failed in fabricating the lie behind their sanctions, for it was ignorance that made way for its dictation and utterance. Their sanctions were a cover for tyranny, and their injustice was a law for the tyrants. The devastation of the siege of a people (in Gaza) does not shake them, and against us, the sanctions became a pharaoh. Livelihood comes from what God decides for us, for it is God who gives us our daily bread, and it is He who protects us. God is our purpose, and to Him we sacrifice our lives. We do not hate death, if in death there is life for us. The chosen one (the prophet) raised the banner of our religion, and for it we die in order to live. The brigades of our ancestors shook the world like lions. Ask about (the battles of) Badr and of Hittin. What value does a soul have, if it has no purpose? And what else, other than supporting the religion, can raise us? (End text) Comment -------------- ¶4. (C) Kuwaitis appear to be taking their time digesting the news that the three are now recognized by the UN as terrorist financiers. While the MFA made one run at us to stop the designations (Ref B),the GOK has been largely silent on the issue since the January 16 designation. A number of Kuwaiti contacts, particularly in the military, have privately expressed their satisfaction with the designation. In a January 21 meeting with CDA (septel),MFA U/S Khaled Jarallah said the designations will "cause problems for us" and claimed the GOK is "unsure" what steps to take. He expressed more concern, however, for the financial plight of the KUWAIT 00000097 002 OF 002 families of the detainees when their assets are frozen. Publicly, for the time being, the grilling of the Kuwaiti Education Minister (Ref C) and events in Gaza are proving to be much the greater focus of the Kuwait media. ********************************************* * 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/ ********************************************* * MISENHEIMER