VZCZCXRO4881
OO RUEHDE RUEHDIR
DE RUEHKU #0921/01 1650753
ZNY SSSSS ZZH
O 140753Z JUN 07
FM AMEMBASSY KUWAIT
TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC IMMEDIATE 9362
INFO RUEHZM/GULF COOPERATION COUNCIL COLLECTIVE IMMEDIATE
RHEHNSC/NSC WASHDC IMMEDIATE
RHEBAAA/DEPT OF ENERGY WASHDC IMMEDIATE

S E C R E T SECTION 01 OF 02 KUWAIT 000921 
 
SIPDIS 
 
NOFORN 
SIPDIS 
 
STATE FOR S/CT, DS/ATA, PM, NEA/ARP; ENERGY FOR KOLEVAR; 
NSC FOR ANDERSON; EEB FOR GRIFFIN 
 
E.O. 12958: DECL: 06/12/2022 
TAGS: ASEC EPET KCIP KU PTER
SUBJECT: USG CEIP TEAM DISCUSSES JOINT WORKING GROUP AND 
IMPLEMENTATION WITH GOK 
 
REF: A. KUWAIT 873 
     ¶B. KUWAIT 790 AND PREVIOUS 
 
Classified By: Acting Deputy Chief of Mission Tim Lenderking for Reason 
s 1.4 (b) and (d). 
 
¶1. (S/NF) Summary and Comment:  A USG Critical Energy 
Infrastructure Protection (CEIP) team visited Kuwait on 12-13 
June to review recommendations from the two previous CEIP 
assessments this year, conduct a follow-up maritime 
assessment, and discuss the formation of a USG-GOK Joint 
Working Group (JWG).  The Kuwaitis have already taken action 
on many of the USG recommendations and have created a 
detailed plan of action to implement CEIP upgrades.  There 
was clear buy-in among the various Kuwaiti agencies involved 
in CEIP for further cooperation with the USG, and 
coordination among the Kuwaiti agencies has improved 
noticeably.  Kuwaiti representatives from both the Government 
and the state-owned oil companies expressed strong support 
for the establishment of a JWG, in principle, but the terms 
and composition still need to be determined, and the GOK 
needs to identify a Kuwaiti signatory.  Post will follow up 
with Kuwaiti officials on the JWG.  CEIP Team Leader Averill 
cleared this message.  End Summary and Comment. 
 
¶2. (S/NF) A USG Critical Energy Infrastructure Protection 
team visited Kuwait on 12-13 June to discuss implementation 
of recommendations from CEIP assessments conducted in 
February and March (Ref B).  The team was composed of Dr. 
Bruce Averill (S/CT), Kevin Maloy (DS/ATA), Capt. Don Grant 
(USCG), and Byron Gardner (DOE/Sandia), along with A/DCM and 
Econoff from Embassy Kuwait.  The two-day program consisted 
of a follow-up tour of maritime security around seaside and 
offshore petroleum export facilities with the Kuwait Coast 
Guard and oil company officials; two working-level meetings 
with oil company managers and GOK officials to answer 
questions and to elaborate on points from the previous 
assessments; and a higher-level meeting with senior 
representatives from each of the Kuwaiti agencies involved in 
CEIP to discuss policy, GOK inter-agency coordination, 
capacity building, and opportunities for further USG-GOK 
cooperation.  The senior Kuwaiti participant was Hussain 
Ismail, Deputy Managing Director of KNPC. 
 
---------------------------------------- 
Improved Coordination, Upgrades Underway 
---------------------------------------- 
 
¶3. (S/NF) The 13 June meeting on policy and coordination was 
attended by representatives from SDFC, KNPC, MOI, KCG, Kuwait 
Oil Company (KOC), Kuwait Petroleum Corporation (KPC), and 
the National Security Bureau (NSB).  Many of the individuals 
present had participated in the previous assessments, 
providing important continuity.  Recognizing that developing 
Kuwaiti inter-agency coordination will be one of the most 
critical and most challenging tasks going forward, 
representatives of all the Kuwaiti agencies involved were 
supportive of USG recommendations to establish both a Kuwaiti 
Joint Coordination Committee and a Kuwaiti Joint Operations 
Center.  Currently the only formal mechanism for CEIP 
coordination across Kuwaiti entities is the Kuwait Petroleum 
Corporation's Higher Security Committee which includes KNPC, 
OSSCo, KOC, Kuwait Gulf Oil Company (KGOC), and 
Petrochemicals Industry Company (PIC).  To facilitate and 
standardize Kuwaiti inter-agency coordination on CEIP, KNPC 
intends to negotiate contractual agreements with the KCG and 
MOI that spell out relevant performance metrics.  The KNPC 
and SDFC representatives remarked that visits by USG CEIP 
teams had helped to create both the forum and the 
ministerial-level pressure necessary for the various Kuwaiti 
agencies to coordinate more closely on CEIP.  They said they 
hoped that continuing visits and engagement by the USG would 
help to "maintain the pressure." 
 
¶4.  (S/NF) During the meeting, the Kuwaitis presented an 
"action matrix" developed by the Security Decision Follow-up 
Committee (SDFC), OSSCo, Kuwait Coast Guard (KCG), and Kuwait 
National Petroleum Company (KNPC), which categorized each of 
the USG recommendations (procedure, hardware or training), 
noted the status of implementation, assigned responsibility 
to a specific agency, and indicated an expected completion 
date.  The Kuwaitis pointed out that 15% of the 
recommendations have already been implemented.  Completed 
actions included camera installations, communications 
enhancements, and extension of perimeter fencing.  Several 
basic barrier upgrades on the land side of the refineries 
 
KUWAIT 00000921  002 OF 002 
 
 
still need to be made, however. 
 
¶5. (S/NF) The SDFC outlined plans to complete a seaside fence 
and establish a private Coastal Protection Force (CPF) to 
enhance maritime security.  The CPF, which is to be comprised 
of 50 Kuwaitis and 160 third-country nationals with armed 
forces experience, will patrol limited marine security zones 
around critical assets in 27-ft boats.  Each patrol boat will 
have one lightly armed soldier from the Ministry of Interior 
(MOI) authorized to use deadly force, if necessary. 
Eventually, SDFC and OSSCo intend to seek authorization from 
the Cabinet for both marine and landside private security 
personnel to be armed.  The CPF, which is projected to be in 
place by 2008, is intended to complement and work closely 
with the KCG, which will retain responsibility for 
"deepwater" surveillance, patrolling, and interdiction. 
 
------------------------------------------ 
Eager to Form Joint Working Group with USG 
------------------------------------------ 
 
¶6. (S/NF) The USG team presented the Kuwaitis with a draft 
concept paper outlining the prospective goals, composition, 
and functions of a USG-GOK Joint Working Group (JWG), modeled 
on our JWG with Saudi Arabia.  They explained that the 
establishment of a JWG would enable more robust and regular 
bilateral cooperation and information sharing on CEIP. 
(Note: The proposal to establish a JWG was agreed to in 
principle during the Gulf Security Dialogue meeting held in 
Kuwait on 22 May.  See Ref A.)  The SDFC, KNPC, MOI, and KOC 
representatives all expressed strong support for the JWG 
concept, although they were unsure who from the GOK should 
act as signatory to such an agreement (comment:  the Kuwaiti 
representatives were also not empowered to approve the JWG at 
their level).  KNPC, KOC, and SDFC said they were eager to 
take advantage of the opportunities the JWG would offer in 
terms of sharing technical information, testing and 
evaluating different security products, and importing 
techniques and processes to design and manage a comprehensive 
security regime.  KNPC Deputy Managing Director Hussain 
Ismail said he would forward the draft JWG concept paper to 
Shaykh Thamer Al-Ali, Deputy Director of the NSB, for review. 
 Post will follow up with both the NSB and General Mohammed 
Al-Bader of the SDFC to encourage the signing of an MOU to 
create the JWG. 
 
 
********************************************* * 
For more reporting from Embassy Kuwait, visit: 
http://www.state.sgov.gov/p/nea/kuwait/?cable s 
 
Visit Kuwait's Classified Website: 
http://www.state.sgov.gov/p/nea/kuwait/ 
********************************************* * 
 
LeBaron