Country Reports on Terrorism 2007 - Kuwait

In 2007, the Government of Kuwait did not enact stronger antiterrorism and money laundering legislation, and it continued to have difficulty prosecuting terrorists and terrorism financiers and facilitators. The risk of a terrorist attack in Kuwait remained high because of U.S. forces in the country, regional tensions, and the Kuwaiti government's reluctance to confront domestic extremists. Kuwait lacked legal provisions to deal with conspiracies to commit terrorist acts, a problem complicated by domestic politics. In the past, the Kuwaiti government took action against non-Kuwaiti residents involved in terror facilitation but was reluctant to take action against key local Sunni extremists unless there was a perception of clear and direct danger to Kuwaiti or U.S. interests. The Kuwaiti government was reluctant to support the designation of its nationals as terrorists or terrorism supporters under UNSCR 1267.

In April, the Kuwaiti government froze all financial accounts of terrorism financier Mubarak Al-Bathali and forbade him to open any further accounts in Kuwait. In July, Kuwaiti authorities arrested Jabir Al-Jalahmah for his role in facilitating the travel of jihadists to Iraq, but a Kuwaiti court later released him on bail.² The Kuwaiti government had not prepared a case against Al-Jalahmah. Mohsen al-Fadhli, a U.S.-designated Kuwaiti terrorist, was believed to be in Jordan and remained at large. The Court of Cassation, Kuwait's highest court, ruled in March 2005 that it did not have jurisdiction over al-Fadhli's alleged financing of the terrorist attack on the USS Cole in October 2000.

The Kuwaiti government continued the prosecutions of the 36 members of the "Peninsula Lions" terrorist cell involved in January 2005 confrontations with police. In May, the Court of First Instance overturned the convictions of three defendants. In June, the Court of Cassation commuted the death sentences of four defendants to life sentences (equal to 25 years of imprisonment under Kuwaiti law). The Court of Cassation is reviewing the verdicts of the remaining 32 defendants in the Peninsula Lions case.

In 2002, twelve armed Kuwaitis attacked two U.S. service members outside a military base near Failaka Island. The Appeals Court acquitted five of the twelve defendants. In February 2007, the Court of Cassation reduced the fines of two of these defendants from 700,000 USD to 7,000 USD. Separately, in 2005, the Criminal Court convicted 18 Kuwaitis in absentia to three years in prison for recruiting jihadists to fight in Iraq. In October, the Appeals Court attempted to review the cases of seven of these individuals, but was unsuccessful since they remained at large.

In April and May, Kuwaiti courts upheld the not guilty verdicts of seven former Guantanamo detainees on terror-related charges. The Kuwaiti government had been appealing decisions previously rendered by lower Kuwaiti courts.

Nevertheless, Kuwait was an effective and reliable partner in providing security for U.S. military installations and convoys in Kuwait. In 2006, Kuwaiti police arrested three bidoons (stateless residents) for planning to attack U.S. military personnel. The Criminal Court convicted the bidoons in January 2007, and sentenced them each to ten years in prison, to be followed by deportation. The Court of Appeals was scheduled to review their case on December 31. Kuwait's reluctance to address the social and economic conditions of its bidoon residents has resulted in this segment of the population becoming vulnerable to radical ideologies and terrorist recruiters.

In response to AQ threats to attack oil facilities in the Gulf, Kuwait took some steps to improve security at its petroleum installations and export terminals. In March, a multi-agency U.S. Critical Energy Infrastructure Protection team visited and provided the Kuwaiti government with a number of recommendations to improve its energy infrastructure security. Kuwait responded by taking initial steps to enhance physical security at several locations.

The Kuwaiti government's legal regime for combating money laundering and terrorist financing lacked sufficient enforcement mechanisms, thus hindering its effectiveness. The Kuwaiti government implemented no cash reporting requirements for individuals leaving the country, and this was a significant vulnerability. While money laundering was a criminal offense, terrorist financing was not specifically prohibited. Kuwait had established an Anti-Money Laundering/Combating Terrorist Financing Committee (AML/CTF), with representation from a wide range of government ministries and domestic financial institutions. Kuwait was also an active member of the Middle East and North Africa Financial Action Task Force (MENA FATF). Although Kuwait had a Financial Intelligence Unit (FIU), it did not exercise independent authority in accordance with current international standards.

The Ministry of Social Affairs and Labor (MOSAL) took some steps to strengthen its domestic monitoring regime of Kuwait-based Islamic charities, but was less effective in monitoring the activities of these charities outside Kuwait. The Kuwaiti government needs to accelerate its efforts to pass counterterrorism legislation, strengthen charity oversight, empower its FIU, monitor cash couriers, and fully conform to international standards and conventions on terrorist financing.

In 2005, Kuwait's Ministry of Awqaf (religious endowments) and Islamic Affairs launched an initiative to spread moderation and to combat extremism within the Muslim community. The Ministry's World Moderation Center (WMC), tasked with implementing this program, offers a 45-day moderation course, which over 700 imams have completed thus far. The Center also began offering this course to high school Islamic studies teachers.

The moderation campaign has had some difficulty reaching the broader public, prompting the government to launch an awareness campaign on its behalf. The World Moderation Center sponsored international moderation conferences in London and Washington, D.C., and established a moderation center in Manchester, England.

2 In December 2006, the U.S. Department of the Treasury designated three Kuwaiti nationals as terrorist supporters within the U.S.: extremist cleric Hamid Abdallah Al-Ali, and terrorism facilitators Mubarak Al-Bathali and Jabir Al-Jalahmah. In December 2005, a Kuwaiti court acquitted Hamid Al-Ali for his role in inciting the Peninsula Lions attack of January 2005.