QUERYING MFA ON RELEASE OF POSSIBLE TERRORISM

S E C R E T KUWAIT 000839 SIPDIS NEA/ARP, NEA/RA E.O. 12958: DECL: 08/24/2024 TAGS: PTER PREL PGOV KU SUBJECT: QUERYING MFA ON RELEASE OF POSSIBLE TERRORISM SUSPECT REF: KUWAIT 793 Classified By: Political Counselor Pete O'Donohue for reasons 1.4 b and d ¶1. (S) Polcouns met August 23 with Ambassador Khaled Mugames, MFA's Director of Coordination and Follow-up, to discuss the recent arrests of terrorists plotting attacks on U.S. and Kuwaiti facilities (reftel). Polcouns specifically pressed Mugames for more timely sharing of information regarding the investigation and with regard to the disposition of cases by the Public Prosecutor, noting press reports that one of the detainees had already been released. The absence of more information with regard to the nature of the plot and the released individual's role in it to include any ongoing surveillance activity if any complicated our efforts to ensure an appropriate security posture for both official Americans and the broader American community in Kuwait. ¶2. (S) Mugames observed that KSS was providing updates via liaison -- Polcouns acknowledged this but reiterated the desire for more comprehensive information, including regarding court actions. Mugames then promised to secure additional details with regard to the plot and the actions of the Public Prosecutor and to provide the Embassy with a fuller briefing in the near future. Mugames offered as his "personal opinion" that the detainees were arrested pre-emptively and before their alleged plot had approached a point where they posed an imminent threat; he also suggested that the detainees were largely an "unsophisticated" lot who were probably less dangerous than press accounts might have led the public to believe. He acknowledged, however, that -- sophisticated or not -- the criminal nature of the allegations against the detainees demanded serious investigation and appropriate sanctions, and he reiterated his commitment to providing a more forthcoming update as the investigation proceeds. ********************************************* ********* For more reporting from Embassy Kuwait, visit: visit Kuwait's Classified Website at: http://www.intelink.sgov.gov/wiki/Portal:Kuwa it ********************************************* ********* WILLIAMS