SEYCHELLES: 2008 COUNTRY TERRORISM REPORT

UNCLAS PORT LOUIS 000448 S/CT FOR RHONDA SHORE, NCTC E.O. 12958: N/A TAGS: ASEC PTER SE SUBJECT: SEYCHELLES: 2008 COUNTRY TERRORISM REPORT REF: STATE 120019 The following is a reftel response updating the Country Report on Terrorism for Seychelles: -------------- SEYCHELLES -------------- The terrorist threat in the Seychelles is generally low. Due to frequent visits of U.S. naval vessels, however, there is a risk that terrorist organizations could attempt a strike similar to the attack on the USS Cole. The Seychelles Coast Guard has very limited capabilities to thwart such a strike. Given that drug smuggling is a persistent problem in this widespread archipelago, conditions exist that facilitate the smuggling of weapons or the illegal transporting of terrorist operatives. There is currently no indigenous terrorist group in the Seychelles and international terror groups most likely could not count on support from the tiny, fragmented Islamic community there. Increased investments in the Seychelles from Middle Eastern sources and a budding offshore financial sector have not produced any known terrorist financing case to date. These new investments, however, will require the government of Seychelles to further modernize its regulatory framework and infrastructure regarding Anti Money Laundering and Countering Terrorist Financing (AML/CTF). The government of Seychelles enacted the Prevention of Terrorism Bill in 2004, which allows the government to freeze and seize terrorist finance related assets. Likewise, in 2006 Parliament enacted the Anti Money Laundering Act, which set the parameters to determine suspected terrorist financing transactions and created a Financial Intelligence Unit (FIU) to investigate suspicious transaction reports. CABRERA