Cablegate: Seychelles: 2008 Country Terrorism Report

R 221205Z DEC 08
FM AMEMBASSY PORT LOUIS
TO SECSTATE WASHDC 4338
INFO NCTC WASHINGTON DC

UNCLAS PORT LOUIS 000448

S/CT FOR RHONDA SHORE, NCTC

E.O. 12958: N/A
TAGS: ASEC PTER SE
SUBJECT: SEYCHELLES: 2008 COUNTRY TERRORISM REPORT

REF: STATE 120019

The following is a reftel response updating the Country
Report on Terrorism for Seychelles:

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SEYCHELLES
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The terrorist threat in the Seychelles is generally low. Due
to frequent visits of U.S. naval vessels, however, there is a
risk that terrorist organizations could attempt a strike
similar to the attack on the USS Cole. The Seychelles Coast
Guard has very limited capabilities to thwart such a strike.
Given that drug smuggling is a persistent problem in this
widespread archipelago, conditions exist that facilitate the
smuggling of weapons or the illegal transporting of terrorist
operatives. There is currently no indigenous terrorist group
in the Seychelles and international terror groups most likely
could not count on support from the tiny, fragmented Islamic
community there.

Increased investments in the Seychelles from Middle Eastern
sources and a budding offshore financial sector have not
produced any known terrorist financing case to date. These
new investments, however, will require the government of
Seychelles to further modernize its regulatory framework and
infrastructure regarding Anti Money Laundering and Countering
Terrorist Financing (AML/CTF). The government of Seychelles
enacted the Prevention of Terrorism Bill in 2004, which
allows the government to freeze and seize terrorist finance
related assets. Likewise, in 2006 Parliament enacted the Anti
Money Laundering Act, which set the parameters to determine
suspected terrorist financing transactions and created a
Financial Intelligence Unit (FIU) to investigate suspicious
transaction reports.

CABRERA

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