Cablegate: Ukraine: 2009 Country Reports On Terrorism

VZCZCXYZ0000
PP RUEHWEB

DE RUEHKV #2146 3511209
ZNR UUUUU ZZH
P 171209Z DEC 09
FM AMEMBASSY KYIV
TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC PRIORITY 8986
INFO RUEILB/NCTC WASHINGTON DC PRIORITY

UNCLAS KYIV 002146

SENSITIVE
SIPDIS

DEPT FOR S/CT: RHONDA SHORE AND NCTC WASHINGTON

E.O. 12958: N/A
TAGS: ASEC PGOV PREL PTER UP
SUBJECT: UKRAINE: 2009 COUNTRY REPORTS ON TERRORISM

REF: STATE 109980

1. (SBU) Per reftel request, this is Embassy Kyiv's
submission on Ukraine for the 2009 Country Reports on
Terrorism. The point of contact on the report is Political
Officer David Mellor, email address mellordb@state.gov and
Embassy telephone number 380-44-490-4317.

UKRAINE
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2. (SBU) Although there were no terrorist incidents in
Ukraine this year, the Ministry of Interior (MOI) claimed to
have disrupted a domestic plot still in the planning stages.
The MOI detained five men accused of plotting to assassinate
the leader of the Crimean Tatar Mejlis (the unofficial Muslim
Crimean Tatar community representative body). The men, some
of whom are Crimean Tatars, claimed they are members of
Egypt-based Al-Takfir wa al-Hijrah and had acquired weapons
and explosives in preparation for the assassination attempt.
The men are charged with illegal possession of weapons and
explosives. The extent of the group's links to outside
terrorist organizations remains unclear.

3. (SBU) Uzbekistan-based terrorist organization
Hizb-ut-Tahir, through its local NGO Crimean Muslim Community
Davet, held a conference on July 19 in Simferopol titled
"From Capitalist Oppression and Injustice to the Light of the
Caliphate." The conference's 800 attendees were primarily
Crimean Tatars from Ukraine and Uzbekistan. The Ukrainian
government said it monitored the conference closely and
allowed it to continue because it was conducted by a
registered NGO and its focus was on "social and religious
issues" facing the Tatar community.

4. (SBU) In December, President Yushchenko vetoed significant
amendments to Ukraine's law on money-laundering and terrorist
financing. The law would have expanded the scope of current
financial monitoring and would have been a demonstrable step
toward bringing Ukraine's money-laundering and terrorism
finance laws into compliance with international norms.

5. (SBU) The Ukrainian government continues to contribute to
the stabilization efforts in Afghanistan, with ten soldiers
serving in Chaghcharan province under Lithuanian leadership.
The Ukrainian National Security and Defense Council announced
on December 12 that the government plans to triple the size
of its deployment to Afghanistan in 2010.
TEFFT

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