US embassy cable - 05KUWAIT4451

C O N F I D E N T I A L SECTION 01 OF 02 KUWAIT 004451 
 
SIPDIS 
 
STATE FOR NEA/ARPI, LONDON FOR TSOU, PARIS FOR ZEYA 
 
E.O. 12958: DECL: 10/16/2015 
TAGS: PGOV, PREL, PHUM, PTER, KISL, KDEM, SA, KU, SHI'A 
SUBJECT: SHI'A MOSQUE ATTACKED BY YOUTH IN JAHRA; SHI'A 
FEAR RISING SECTARIANISM 
 
Classified By: Ambassador Richard LeBaron for reason 1.4 (b) 
 
1.  (C) Summary: A group of youth between the ages of 14 and 
18 attacked a Shi'a mosque in Jahra on October 7, burning a 
stolen car, breaking the mosque's spotlights, pelting 
worshippers with stones, and chanting anti-Shi'a slogans, 
including: "Death to infidel Shi'a, agents of America."  No 
one was reported injured in the incident.  Eyewitnesses 
estimate between 50 to 70 young men were involved in the 
incident.  Police detained 12 young men, ten Saudis and two 
bidoon (stateless Arabs), for questioning.  No charges have 
been filed against the youth.  Shi'a clerics issued a 
statement condemning the attack, which local newspapers 
initially refused to publish.  The statement was finally 
published October 16 in the English-language daily Kuwait 
Times under the headline, "Jahra Mosque Attack Sparks 
Security Fears: Al-Zarqawi influence growing?"  Shi'a leaders 
told Political Assistant they fear the attack could signal 
rising Shi'a-Sunni tensions in Kuwait.  Many observers 
suggest sectarian conflict in Iraq has contributed to the 
growing tensions in Kuwait, but this is not the first 
incident of its kind.  End summary. 
 
Shi'a Mosque Attacked by Youth in Jahra 
--------------------------------------- 
 
2.  (SBU) Around 8:00 pm on October 7, a group of youth, 
numbering from 50 to 70 between the ages of 14 and 18 
attacked the Shi'a Mohammed Bin Abu Bakr mosque in the 
predominantly Sunni city of Jahra.  According to 
eyewitnesses, the youths burned a stolen car in the vicinity 
of the mosque, smashed the mosque's spotlights, threw stones 
at worshippers, and shouted slogans accusing Shi'a of being 
infidels, of collaborating with "the infidel Americans," and 
of supporting Iranian Supreme Cleric Ayatollah Ali 
Al-Khamenei.  No one was reported injured in the incident. 
(Note: A similar incident occurred last Ramadan when several 
shots from a small-arms weapon were fired at a Shi'a 
husseinya, a traditional gathering place for Shi'a men, by 
unidentified persons; no one was injured in the attack.  Most 
observers claimed the attack was sectarian-motivated.  End 
note.) 
 
3.  (C) According to Abdul Hussein Al-Sultan, Secretary 
General of the Justice and Peace Gathering, a moderate Shi'a 
political association, who spoke with the owner of the 
mosque, Hussein Al-Qattan, after the incident, one the 
slogans chanted by the youths was, "Death to infidel Shi'a, 
agents of America." 
 
4.  (SBU) The English daily Kuwait Times reported in an 
October 16 article that, despite being notified about the 
incident at 8:15 pm, local police did not arrive at the 
mosque until 9:15 pm, at which time they were reportedly 
beaten by the "attackers."  Multiple sources reported that 
police arrested 12 young men involved in the incident - ten 
Saudis and two bidoon (stateless Arabs) - between the ages of 
14 and 18.  Several sources also noted that National Assembly 
member (MP) Awad Barrad, an Islamist associated with the 
conservative Scientific Salafi Movement, attempted, 
unsuccessfully, to obtain the release of the youths detained. 
 The Kuwait Times reported the young men were questioned by 
police until 5 am on October 8.  It is unclear if they were 
released and/or charged with a crime. 
 
5.  (C) Al-Sultan told Political Assistant that Al-Qattan 
complained to Interior Minister Shaykh Nawaf Al-Ahmad 
Al-Sabah about the incident.  Shaykh Nawaf promised to "build 
a better Shi'a mosque, provide security for (Shi'a) 
worshippers, and give the Shi'a a bigger area."  According to 
Al-Sultan, Shaykh Nawaf also asked Al-Qattan to inform him of 
any additional threats to the mosque.  A report on the 
incident provided by Dr. Abdullah Sahar, a Shi'a political 
science professor at Kuwait University, said the "victims of 
the attack" do not/not think the Ministry of Interior is 
serious about addressing the incident especially since there 
was no discussion on how the juveniles involved were incited 
to commit such an act. 
 
6.  (SBU) The October 7 incident was not the first attack 
against the Mohammed Bin Abu Mohammed mosque, one of only 36 
mosques belonging to Kuwait's minority Shi'a population, 
which represents nearly a third of the population.  (Note: 
There are approximately 1070 Sunni mosques in Kuwait.  End 
note.)  "Over the past several years, this mosque has been 
the target of several aggressions and harassment," Hassan 
Al-Issa, a liberal Sunni, wrote October 12 in the Arabic 
daily Al-Qabas. 
 
Shi'a Fear Rising Sectarianism Influenced By Iraq Conflict 
--------------------------------------------- ------------- 
7.  (SBU) In response to the mosque incident, more than 20 
Shi'a clerics in Kuwait issued a statement condemning the 
attack.  A translation of the statement published October 16 
in the English-daily Kuwait Times, stated that the incident 
occurred "under the eyes of security men" and called on the 
Government "to shoulder its responsibilities and protect 
mosques and worshippers from attacks by Takfiri extremists." 
(Note: Takfir is the act of identifying someone as an 
unbeliever (kafir).  Many Salafist groups believe Shi'a 
Muslims are unbelievers, or "infidel."  End note.)  The 
statement continued, "We are afraid that Kuwaiti press 
reports about the Al-Zarqawi group spreading into the Gulf 
region have become true."  It concluded: "We regard this 
incident as an alarm bell to all of us so the wise people, 
scholars, intellectuals, dignitaries, and all sectors of the 
people in this country can act to nip the sedition in the bud 
before it rages and consumes, God forbid, the country and its 
people." 
 
8.  (C) One of the signatories of the statement, Mohammed 
Baqer Al-Mohri, head of the Shi'a Clerics Gathering, a Shi'a 
political association reputed to have ties to Iran, told 
Political Assistant there were "definitely influential and 
Takfiri people behind the youths involved in the incident." 
Another Shi'a leader, Abdul Hadi Al-Saleh, General Secretary 
of the Ja'afari Waqf, a Shi'a religious endowment, echoed 
Al-Mohri's concerns, arguing that "Salafis, Takfiris, and 
fundamentalists" were behind the attack.  Al-Saleh claimed 
clerics at a Sunni mosque near the Mohammed Bin Abi Bakr 
mosque were "inciting worshippers against the Shi'a mosque." 
He said Shi'a complaints to local police have been ignored 
and suggested the police "sympathize with the attackers."  He 
concluded: "We have become desperate because of the absence 
of any action by the Government." 
 
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LEBARON