US embassy cable - 05KUWAIT4633

C O N F I D E N T I A L KUWAIT 004633 
 
SIPDIS 
 
SIPDIS 
 
STATE FOR NEA/ARPI, LONDON FOR TSOU, PARIS FOR ZEYA 
 
E.O. 12958: DECL: 10/29/2015 
TAGS: PREL, PGOV, PTER, KISL, KIRF, KU, SHI'A 
SUBJECT: UPDATE ON SHI'A MOSQUE INCIDENT: LOCALIZED ACT 
"BLOWN OUT OF PROPORTION" BY LOCAL MEDIA 
 
REF: KUWAIT 4451 
 
Classified By: Ambassador Richard LeBaron for reason 1.4 (d) 
 
1.  (C) This is an update to reftel reporting on the October 
7 attack against a Shi'a mosque in Jahra, a predominantly 
Sunni city approximately 35 kilometers west of Kuwait City. 
According to the mosque's owner, Hussein Al-Qattan, and a 
worshiper at the mosque "between 150 to 200 Saudi and bidoon 
(stateless Arab) juveniles" were involved in the incident. 
(Note: This is more than double the number reported 
previously by our Shi'a contacts.  End note.)  Al-Qattan said 
this was the fourth and largest attack against the mosque to 
date.  He described previous incidents as "child riots." 
Al-Qattan blamed "Salafi Takfiris" (Takfir: A Muslim who 
labels other Muslims "kafir," unbelievers or infidels) from 
two neighboring Sunni mosques for instigating the attack. 
Expressing overall satisfaction with the Government response 
to the incident, Al-Qattan ruled out the possibility of 
another, similar attack against the mosque, noting that 
Interior Minister Shaykh Nawaf Al-Ahmed Al-Jaber Al-Sabah was 
"extremely serious in addressing the situation."  Suggesting 
that the incident "may have been blown out of proportion by 
some press reports," Al-Qattan said the attack had not 
negatively affected Shi'a-Sunni relations in Jahra.  "The 
area is safe for all," he concluded. 
 
2.  (C) In an October 26 visit to the mosque, Poloffs 
observed a substantial amount of broken glass and bottles 
littering the ground around the mosque.  In addition, there 
were two large burn marks on the sandy parking lot.  The 
mosque, a modestly-sized, seemingly rickety tin and metal 
structure surrounded by cement barriers, high fences, and 
barbed wire, is situated on the corner of a main street at 
the edge of an open dirt field.  One worshiper told Poloffs 
bidoon, who he characterized as "Wahabi and Takfiri," were 
responsible for the attack.  He also noted that this is the 
only Shi'a mosque in Jahra, the largest city in the 
governorate of Al-Jahra, which has a population of 99,073. 
 
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LEBARON