US embassy cable - 04KUWAIT1329

UNCLAS KUWAIT 001329 
 
SIPDIS 
 
STATE FOR NEA/ARP, NEA/PD QUINN AND SMITH 
TEL AVIV FOR LEBARON, RIYADH FOR TUELLER 
 
E.O. 12958: N/A 
TAGS: PREL, PGOV, KU 
SUBJECT: KUWAITI REACTIONS TO THE NOMINATION OF RICHARD 
LEBARON AS AMBASSADOR TO KUWAIT 
 
(U) SENSITIVE BUT UNCLASSIFIED--PROTECT ACCORDINGLY 
 
1. (U) SUMMARY: Kuwaiti media have prominently reported 
Islamist opposition to the nomination of Richard LeBaron as 
ambassador to Kuwait in the past few days, with a handful of 
Islamist MPs, members of the Kuwait University student union 
and other fellow travelers expressing dismay that 
"personalities that have served in the Zionist entity" have 
been accepted by the GOK.  While an Islamist demonstration 
yesterday against US policies in Palestine and Iraq 
attracted a significant cross-section of Sunni and Shia'a 
activists who repeated their opposition to the LeBaron 
nomination, it is clear to us from comments by senior 
government officials and from conversations with contacts 
that opposition to LeBaron is not significant or deep, and 
that GOK acceptance of his nomination will not be withdrawn. 
END SUMMARY. 
 
2.  (U) The Rantissi assassination has provided local 
Islamists with their best ammunition against Israel in some 
time, and they are trying, to the limited extent they can, 
to use the nomination of Tel Aviv DCM Richard LeBaron as 
Ambassador to Kuwait to embarrass the GOK.  There has been 
some public criticism, including a demonstration by local 
Islamists, with local media reporting that both members of 
the Islamic Constitutional Movement (Muslim Brotherhood) 
"bloc" in the National Assembly had joined together with 
their more radical Salafi colleagues to block GOK agrement 
for LeBaron. "We do not accept those who beat the drums for 
the killing of Palestinians by Sharon to be ambassadors in 
Kuwait. The United States should choose a person who is 
accepted by the people first, before the government," 
intoned independent Islamist MP Dhaifallah Buramiya.  The 
ICM issued a statement that characterized the appointment as 
exhibiting "remarkable ignorance and insensitivity to 
Muslims." 
 
3. (U) Such comments have been met with derision by the 
editor-in-chief of Arabic daily Al Watan (whose paper often 
provides a forum for Islamist commentary), who writes that 
"with the advent of summer, there seems to be a rise in the 
number of people suffering from delirium," and says that by 
Islamist logic Kuwait should boycott the Palestinians for 
negotiating at Oslo.  Another commentator asserts that he 
"wasn't much impressed" by photos of Kuwaiti students 
protesting the American presence in Iraq criticizing the 
LeBaron appointment, saying that the demonstration was 
clearly contrived by Islamists for political gain. 
 
4.  (SBU) In private conversations with Emboffs, Kuwaiti 
editors and others have suggested that ostensible reaction 
to the LeBaron appointment also reflects tensions between 
Islamists and the government of PM Sabah al-Ahmed al-Sabah, 
already simmering from a recent government decision to merge 
the Sharia College into the College of Law, and from a 
decision by the Ministry of Information to host an 
installment of the popular TV show "Star Academy" (an Arabic 
version of "American Idol") which Islamists see as sinful. 
Islamists, these contacts have told us, have been shaken by 
the fact that an overwhelming percentage of the Kuwaiti 
public has ignored religious fatwas to boycott the show, and 
that a staggering twenty thousand Kuwaitis reportedly turned 
out to welcome the Kuwaiti participant back home.  Islamists 
have also been stung by op/eds mocking their fatwas (one 
recent cartoon showed the Kuwait public crucified on a cross 
of religious prohibitions.)  "The Islamists are losing the 
battle for public opinion," said one senior editor, who 
remarked that a local cooperative association recently voted 
out its Islamist board members in favor of liberals (such 
associations have been traditional bastions of Islamist 
influence in Kuwait.)  "Five years ago I would have told you 
they represented a threat to the country, but no more." 
 
5. (SBU) Comment: A senior advisor to Kuwait's PM told us 
that the flap over the LeBaron nomination is just "expected 
empty talk" and should be viewed as such.  The GOK has no 
intention of revisiting the issue, and we think the Islamist 
rhetoric on the issue reflects opportunistic local politics 
rather any significant opposition to the appointment.  We 
will report any further commentary on this subject as 
appropriate. 
URBANCIC