US embassy cable - 05KUWAIT1557

S E C R E T KUWAIT 001557 
 
SIPDIS 
 
FOR NEA/ARPI - BERNS 
 
E.O. 12958: DECL: 04/16/2015 
TAGS: ECON, EFIN, PTER, KU, IQ, TERRORISM 
SUBJECT: GOK RESPONSE ON RELEASE OF IRAQ ASSETS TO DFI AND 
INFO ON AL-FAHDLI DESIGNATION 
 
REF: STATE 59301 
 
Classified By: Ambassador Richard LeBaron for reasons 1.4 (b) and (d) 
 
(S)  1.  In the course of an April 17 meeting on several 
topics, Ambassador raised April 17 with Ministry of Foreign 
Affairs Under Secretary Khaled Al-Jarallah the transfer to 
the Development Fund for Iraq (DFI) of frozen Iraqi assets 
and a request for data on the frozen assets of of Muhsin 
Al-Fadhli.  Al-Jarallah confirmed that the Kuwaiti Mission to 
the UN has an account holding $78 million of Iraqi assets and 
said the GOK supported transferring the funds to the 
Development Fund for Iraq (DFI) in accordance with UNSC 1483. 
 He noted that the resolution exempted the transfer of funds 
subject to a claim by an individual or non-governmental body 
and expressed the possibility of claims by Kuwaiti entities. 
Al-Jarallah promised to review the resolution, determine 
whether there were Kuwaiti liens against the funds, and 
report back to us.  On April 18,the Ambassador provided 
Al-Jarallah a fax message with information from Treasury 
Deputy Assistant Secretary Glaser clarifying that any claims 
for judgment or arbitration would have had to been submitted 
before UNSCR 1483 was adopted on May 22, 2003.  Ambassador 
spoke to Al-Jarallah again on April 18 to confirm receipt of 
the message and reinforce the need for prompt action. 
Al-Jarallah said he had passed our information to the MFA 
Legal Affairs Office and that he would get back to us on the 
issue. 
 
2.  (S) On the reftel request for information on the frozen 
assets of Mushin Al-Fadhli,   Al-Jarallah referred us to the 
MFA Department of Coordination and Follow-up. PolChief 
discussed April 18 the Al-Fadhli designation with Feisal 
Al-Enezi in the MFA Office of Coordination and Follow-Up, who 
said Central Bank representatives orally confirmed to him 
that the assets of Al-Fadhli had been frozen.  He said his 
office had received no written confirmation from the bank on 
the measures taken, but assured PolChief that the bank took 
immediate action upon receiving MFA instructions. 
(NOTE: This information is at odds with what the Central Bank 
Governor told DAS Glaser on April 18, when he said that a 
written report had been provided by the Central Bank to the 
MFA.  The information maynot have been sent, it may have gone 
to another office in the MFA or the MFA may be unwilling to 
provide the detailed data. We will continue to pursue the 
matter.) 
LEBARON