ENSURING THE CLASS ENTRY SYSTEM IS ACCURATE AND UP

UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 02 KUWAIT 000317

SIPDIS

NEA/ARP, CONSULAR AFFAIRS

E.O. 12958: N/A
TAGS: PTER PGOV CONS PREL KU
SUBJECT: ENSURING THE CLASS ENTRY SYSTEM IS ACCURATE AND UP
TO DATE


1. This is an action request. Please see para 6.

Summary:
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2. The recent border crossing experience of a key Embassy
contact who alleges excessive and invasive scrutiny during
his recent trip to meet with RAND officials in California
leads post to question what process or procedures are in
place to expunge questionably sourced information or
otherwise update information from SAO lookout files. As the
Department is already well aware, our lengthy SAO delays and,
in some cases, the treatment at our ports of entry of persons
otherwise well-disposed to the U.S. continue to negatively
impact our relationship with our important allies, such as
Kuwait. End Summary.

Excessive Scrutiny at Port of Entry
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3. A key Embassy political contact, Dr. Abdullah Sahar,
conveyed to poloff his distress over how he was subjected to
excessive, intrusive scrutiny on separate occasions at both
JFK and LAX international airports during his February 9-15
visit which was undertaken, ironically, to examine
methodology for improving security cooperation between the US
and Kuwait. Post subsequently learned that, in a review of
Sahar's case, inaccuracies and inconsistencies in data input
or deletion may have led to overly aggressive questioning of
this key embassy contact. When Dr. Sahar received his visa
in February 2007 he had no hits in CLASS. For reasons that
are not clear, a direct hit for him was subsequently entered
on May 11, 2007 (TSC 1261374). Post viewed this hit on
February 19, 2009 but later noticed that it was subsequently
removed on or before February 26 (again for reason that are
not clear). Therefore, at some point after Sahar's February
LAX 15 security interview, Sahar was apparently
de-watchlisted. While the May 2007 hit, which prompted the
extra scrutiny, was clearly directed at Sahar, its presence,
and later deletion, raises other issues:

-- Why did the Department not revoke Sahar's visa in May 2007
if he warranted a direct hit?

-- Sahar uneventfully entered the U.S. in December 2008. Did
POE inspectors miss this direct hit then?

-- Why was Sahar stopped and interviewed (e.g. at JFK and
LAX) twice?

Bio note:
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4. (SBU) Sahar, one of the more highly-positioned Shi'a in
Kuwaiti power circles, is a valued embassy resource on
internal political dynamics and Iran. He has a close,
personal relationship with the Amir and advises him
frequently. He is a political science professor at Kuwait
University and regularly consults with the Kuwaiti National
Security Bureau on security matters. He was sent on this
particular trip by NSB director Shaykh Ahmed Al-Fahad with a
mandate to meet with RAND and to submit a report on his
findings to NSB. He has at least three children who are US
citizens.

Too Many Unsubstantiated Hits...
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5. CLASS is replete with incomplete data to the extent that
much information of real intelligence value is potentially
being overlooked. Also, CLASS entries with common names and
no other biographical data continue to be dumped into an
already bloated system. Post has seen several recent
examples:

-- Ali, Muhammad (TSC 3917360),no date or place of birth.
Hit was entered on February 17, 2009. (Note: The Department
removed this hit once Post raised the matter to its
attention. End note).

-- Ali, Sayed (TSC 3866356),no date or place of birth. Hit
was entered February 2.

-- Hassan, Mohamed (TSC 3962280),no date or place of birth.
Hit was entered March 5.

-- Majid, Husayn (TSC 3974097),no date or place of birth.
Hit was entered March 10. (Note: This hit caused an
inexcusable delay of an urgent medical case. End note.)

KUWAIT 00000317 002 OF 002



... Cause Undue Delays and Inconsistencies
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6. Action Request: Post requests, in order to minimize the
chances of misidentifying innocent travelers (including
important contacts),as "persons of concern," clarification
of existing procedures for the elimination or scrubbing of
"hits" that do not contain the requisite information needed
to verify identity. Perhaps updating the system would also
accelerate otherwise painfully slow clearance times. (Note:
Some applicants have remarked that "Port of Entry" officials
seem able to resolve in a matter of a few hours these "hits"
in the system that the Department takes multiple months to
clear. Do these port officials have additional information
available to them? Meanwhile, in an apparent inconsistency,
even those travelers with a high likelihood of requiring
Security Advisory Opinions are able to travel on existing
visas. End note).


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For more reporting from Embassy Kuwait, visit:
visit Kuwait's Classified Website at:

http://www.intelink.sgov.gov/wiki/Portal:Kuwa it
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JONES