US embassy cable - 04KUWAIT1355

C O N F I D E N T I A L SECTION 01 OF 02 KUWAIT 001355 
 
SIPDIS 
 
STATE FOR NEA/ARP, NEA/REA, NEA/ENA, DRL/IRF, INR/NESA 
TEL AVIV FOR LEBARON 
RIYADH FOR TUELLER 
TUNIS FOR NATALIE BROWN 
 
E.O. 12958: DECL: 04/26/2014 
TAGS: PHUM, KIRF, PGOV, KU, EG 
SUBJECT: (C) COPTIC CHURCH MAKES STRIDES BY MAKING FRIENDS 
 
Classified By: (U) Charge d'Affaires John Moran, reason 1.4(d) 
 
1.(C) SUMMARY: A/DCM and Poloff met April 24 with Father 
Bigol, one of three resident Coptic Orthodox priests in 
Kuwait, to discuss religious freedom issues. There are an 
estimated 65,000 Copts in Kuwait. Cautious and discreet, 
Father Bigol, who has served here for nearly two years, 
stressed the importance of maintaining a cooperative 
relationship with the GOK. A strong emphasis on affinity for 
Egypt and Kuwait, and a low-key, non-confrontational approach 
to resolving difficulties have helped the Coptic Church 
navigate successfully through bureaucratic obstacles and 
obtain a written GOK commitment to solve the problem of the 
church's required move from its current premises. Although 
the Coptic Church, like the other recognized Christian 
churches in Kuwait, continues to face challenges such as 
severe overcrowding, restrictions on assembly and religious 
teaching, and limits on the number of clergy and staff, it is 
able to operate openly as a church without interference from 
government authorities. The Coptic Church's approach of 
carefully respecting the boundaries of permissible activity 
while actively cultivating well-placed supporters, including 
a sister of the Amir, is working well. Such problems as the 
Coptic Church faces appear due primarily to hostility from 
some Egyptian Muslims. END SUMMARY. 
 
THE PROMISED LAND 
----------------- 
 
2.(C) The St. Mark's Coptic Church was built in 1960 on a 
small parcel of land in downtown Kuwait City. According to 
senior priest Father Bigol, who, like his two colleagues, 
hails from the Anba Bishoy monastery in Egypt, the Amir had 
originally promised the church after its establishment that a 
larger plot of land would be forthcoming. However, the Coptic 
Orthodox Church has remained in its original location for the 
past 44 years. An estimated 65,000 Coptic Orthodox Christians 
live in Kuwait. In 2002, the GOK notified the Coptic Church 
of its intention to appropriate the church's land for a road 
expansion project. 
 
3.(C) Father Bigol told us April 24 that the GOK has promised 
the Coptic Church a grant of 6,500 square meters of new land 
in Hawally district upon which to build a new church; the 
church had requested 5,000.  He said that Sheikha Fraiha 
Al-Ahmed Al-Sabah, a sister of the Amir, has been 
instrumental in helping the church obtain new land. Father 
Bigol proudly gave us copies of several recent news articles 
from the local Arabic and English language dailies (the 
originals were prominently displayed near the church's main 
entrance) regarding Sheikha Fraiha's efforts to assist the 
church. (Note: Father Bigol explained that he and Sheikha 
Fraiha, "a nice, kind woman," had "become friends," and that 
she had offered her assistance in negotiating with the GOK on 
behalf of the church on the land issue. End Note). Sheikha 
Fraiha, accompanied by a small group of friends and 
relatives, even visited the Coptic Orthodox Church last week 
to offer Easter greetings on behalf of the GOK and the 
Kuwaiti people. 
 
4.(C) Father Bigol told us that the church is waiting for the 
Council of Ministers (Cabinet) to formally approve the 
church's relocation to Hawally, and that the Council of 
Ministers was expected to discuss the issue at its April 24 
meeting. He added that the church had received a written 
promise from the GOK, in response to a church request, that 
it would not be forced to vacate its current premises until a 
new church was constructed. He said no date had yet been 
fixed for the church's relocation, nor had the GOK offered 
any financial assistance to construct the new church, noting 
only that "God takes care of our needs." 
 
MAKING FRIENDS OUT OF ENEMIES 
----------------------------- 
 
5.(C) Warmly welcoming but discreet, cautious, and 
diplomatic, Father Bigol was careful to emphasize the 
positive aspects of the Coptic Church's relationship with the 
GOK.  While he acknowledged that the church faces 
difficulties (i.e., overcrowding, limited number of resident 
priests, no Coptic school for religious instruction, some 
societal and bureaucratic discrimination against Coptic 
Christians on an individual basis), he stressed that a 
low-key, non-confrontational approach had helped the church 
maintain good relations. (Note: Father Bigol asked repeatedly 
for confirmation that no sensitive or incriminating 
information would be disclosed in the 2004 International 
Religious Freedom Report for Kuwait. End Note). On one of the 
walls of the main reception room of the church, in which our 
meeting took place, hung a photo of the Amir of Kuwait on one 
side and a photo of Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak on the 
other. A Kuwaiti flag and an Egyptian flag were displayed 
side by side, along with placards expressing love for Kuwait 
and Egypt. 
 
6.(C) Father Bigol told us that a few church parishioners 
have faced anti-Christian discrimination, but mainly from 
Muslim Egyptians, and that such discrimination exists "in all 
countries" and is not unique to Kuwait. Some municipal-level 
officials, he said, have sometimes dragged their feet in 
granting needed permits. However, the church's conciliatory 
approach has been successful, he said, in winning over a few 
oppositionists. In one case, the Coptic Church helped the 
wife of a problematic municipal-level official get a job as a 
physician despite opposition from within the Ministry of 
Health, drawing on the influence of Egyptian medical 
personnel in Kuwait. The municipal official, Father Bigol 
said, was so moved that he has become a friend of the church. 
 
AVOIDING CONFLICT, DOWNPLAYING DIFFERENCES 
------------------------------------------ 
 
7.(C) The conversion of Muslims to other religions is 
forbidden in Kuwait. Known converts face harassment and 
discrimination, including loss of employment, police 
questioning, imposition of travel bans, and fines without due 
process. Father Bigol told us that the Coptic Church has 
declined to baptize Muslims seeking to convert, advising them 
instead to be baptized in Europe or elsewhere. (Note: A 
Maronite Catholic priest who leads the Arabic language 
congregation at the Catholic Cathedral adjacent to the Coptic 
Church told Poloff that the Catholic Church also routinely 
declines to baptize would-be converts. Several Arab Muslim 
converts, including two Kuwaitis, were baptized recently in 
Lebanon, he said, and now worship freely at the Roman 
Catholic Cathedral without any known harassment from GOK 
officials. End Note.) 
 
8.(C) While Catholics and Evangelicals have engaged in 
modest, discreet, inter-faith dialogue with Muslims in 
Kuwait, Father Bigol believes it might do more harm than good 
(i.e., by accentuating and publicizing religious 
differences). Instead, he is focusing on dialogue and 
cooperation with the other recognized Christian churches in 
Kuwait with a view towards establishing a Christian religious 
council to liaise officially with, and present shared 
concerns to, the GOK. 
 
9.(C) COMMENT: Even at home in Egypt, the Coptic Orthodox 
Church is a minority in a Muslim society. That experience, 
and the fact that Copts are native speakers of Arabic, mean 
the Coptic Church is adept at navigating Kuwaiti society. 
More than any other church in this country that we know of, 
the Coptic Church is effusive in expressing love for Kuwait 
and its rulers. In general, the various religions here 
coexist amicably although sectarian tensions do exist and a 
small radical Islamist minority is opposed to the presence of 
non-Muslims. That a sister of the Amir has so publicly taken 
a close interest in the needs of the Coptic community 
reflects Kuwait's pride in religious tolerance. 
 
10.(C) COMMENT, CONTINUED: In some ways, the Copts in Kuwait, 
because of their minority status in their home country, may 
be willing to accept a lower standard of religious freedom 
than their Catholic or Evangelical counterparts here. The 
Evangelicals, in particular, have been vocal in expressing 
concern over lack of adequate worship space and, more 
recently, over compliance with the National Manpower Support 
Law's "Kuwaitization" requirements. 
MORAN