US embassy cable - 04KUWAIT1662

C O N F I D E N T I A L KUWAIT 001662 
 
SIPDIS 
 
STATE FOR T, L/T, D, PM/B:AMB. BODINE AND JPMURRAY, NEA/ARP 
 
E.O. 12958: DECL: 05/25/2014 
TAGS: PREL, MARR, KJUS, KU 
SUBJECT: (C) ARTICLE 98:  "LEAVE IT TO US" 
 
REF: KUWAIT 1635 AND PREVIOUS 
 
Classified By: CDA FRANK URBANCIC; REASON 1.4 (B, D). 
 
1.  (C) MFA Acting Undersecretary Amb. Khaled al-Babtain told 
CDA May 25 that the Cabinet's Legal Committee (the Ministers 
of Justice, Information, and Commerce) would meet May 26 to 
consider what is needed according to Kuwaiti law to bring the 
Article 98 agreement into force.  He said MFA would send a 
representative to that meeting with a mandate to press for "a 
clearcut answer" so as to bring the agreement into force.  He 
added that MFA wanted to avoid having to seek parliamentary 
ratification. 
 
2.  (C) CDA stressed that we do not just want an answer, "we 
want yes."  He noted that 89 countries have now signed 
Article 98 agreements with us, and 77 of those agreements 
have entered into force.  Babtain, whose full-time job is 
Director of the Americas Dept., insisted there is no debate 
within GOK about whether to bring the agreement into force, 
it is just a matter of determining what legal mechanism to 
use.  "Leave it to us," he concluded. 
 
3.  (C) COMMENT:  At this stage, we are not prepared to take 
Babtain's assurance at face value.  We will keep pressing the 
GOK to reach closure. 
URBANCIC