US embassy cable - 04KUWAIT1701

C O N F I D E N T I A L SECTION 01 OF 03 KUWAIT 001701 
 
SIPDIS 
 
STATE FOR NEA/ARP, NEA/RA, DRL, INR/NESA 
RIYADH FOR MATT TUELLER 
TEL AVIV FOR DCM LEBARON 
TUNIS FOR NATALIE BROWN 
 
E.O. 12958: DECL: 05/26/2014 
TAGS: PGOV, KISL, KDEM, PHUM, SOCI, KU 
SUBJECT: (C) LIBERALS ON THE OFFENSIVE IN FACE OF GROWING 
ISLAMIST DEMANDS 
 
REF: A. KUWAIT 01274 
     B. KUWAIT 01558 
 
Classified By: CDA Frank C. Urbancic, reasons 1.4(b,d) 
 
1.(SBU) SUMMARY: Islamists have stepped up their demands over 
the past few months, calling for restrictions on public 
concerts, the "grilling" of a Cabinet minister deemed 
supportive of "immoral" activities, and amendments to the 
Press and Publications Law to stiffen penalties against 
statements "defaming" (Sunni) Islam. An advisory committee on 
the implementation of Shari'a has completed and submitted the 
text of a new "Shari'a Draft Law" to the Council of 
Ministers. Kuwaiti liberals, who tend to be less 
well-organized and less vocal than Islamist groups and fared 
poorly in the July 2003 National Assembly elections, are 
starting to take the offensive against Islamist demands that 
they believe threaten Kuwait's basic freedoms. Liberal 
editorialists have long criticized the GOK's "marriage" of 
convenience with Islamist groups and have written scathing 
articles recently against Islamist social and political 
influence. Kuwait's liberals have won several important 
victories recently, most notably the GOK's decision to 
license a popular Arab music concert despite intense Islamist 
opposition and the Cabinet's approval last week of a new 
draft bill granting women full political rights. Many 
liberals are hopeful that regional and international 
developments will encourage more hardline Islamist groups to 
moderate their stance on major issues. Liberals themselves, 
however, may also have to change their image to appeal to a 
broader audience. END SUMMARY. 
 
(U) ISLAMIST EFFORTS TO CONTROL "IMMORAL" BEHAVIOR 
--------------------------------------------- ----- 
 
2.(SBU) Islamist MPs, spearheaded by hardline Scientific 
Salafi MP Waleed Al-Tabtabaei, have threatened to "grill" 
Information Minister Mohammed Abulhassan, a liberal and the 
only Shiite in the 16-member Cabinet, for licensing and 
allowing the hugely popular Arab music concert "Star Academy" 
(based on a Lebanese reality TV show) to take place in Kuwait 
earlier this month. Thousands of Kuwaiti young people 
reportedly attended the concert to the dismay of Islamists, 
who regarded it as "immoral" and a violation of Shari'a 
principles. (Note: An unprecedented 20,000 Kuwaiti young 
people reportedly greeted Kuwaiti Bashar Al-Shatti, Star 
Academy runner-up, at the airport upon his return to Kuwait 
recently, surprising even liberal observers. End Note). 
 
3.(SBU) In order to preempt the "grilling" of a third Cabinet 
minister so far this year, the GOK agreed May 16, as part of 
a compromise with Islamist MPs, to tighten (or, in most 
cases, more strictly enforce) regulations governing public 
concerts. The regulations ban all forms of dancing at public 
concerts by both audience members and performers, and require 
"youths" (unaccompanied or single men) to sit separately from 
"families." (Note: A 1997 Cabinet decision already bans 
concerts that "contravene" Shari'a and Kuwaiti traditions. 
End Note). Some hardline Islamists believe these restrictions 
are not far-reaching enough. They would prefer to ban such 
concerts altogether; failing that, they have demanded at 
minimum the complete gender segregation of audience members, 
a prohibition against female singers performing before men 
and vice versa, and a ban against women under 21 from 
attending public concerts without a chaperone. The GOK has 
insisted that the current regulations, if actively enforced, 
are sufficient to ensure that concerts comply with Kuwait's 
traditions. 
 
4.(SBU) Nevertheless, the Fatwa Department of the Ministry of 
Awqaf and Islamic Affairs issued a (non-binding) fatwa, or 
religious ruling, May 24 banning all concerts featuring 
female entertainers. The Fatwa Department has "recommended" 
that the GOK enforce the ruling. (Note: The fatwa, issued by 
a department within a government ministry, goes far beyond 
the compromise solution reached with MPs to more actively 
enforce already existing restrictions on public concerts. 
Although the Fatwa Department has no authority to enforce or 
implement its religious rulings, the issuance of the fatwa 
represents a victory for hardline Islamists and indicates 
that debate over the concert issue is far from over. End 
Note). 
 
(U) DEBATE OVER "ISLAMIZATION" 
------------------------------ 
 
5.(C) Some Islamists have actively advocated for the 
"Islamization" of all laws, including the Penal Code. The 
Constitution says Shari'a is "a main source" of legislation 
but some Islamists would like to amend this to "the main 
source." The Higher Advisory Committee on Completion of the 
Application of Islamic Shari'a Provisions, created by an 
Amiri Decree in 1991, is tasked with preparing Kuwaiti 
society for the full implementation of Shari'a in all fields. 
The committee has completed the text of a proposed new 
"Shari'a Draft Law" in accordance with its mandate and has 
submitted it to the GOK for review and consideration. In a 
meeting with Poloff recently, however, the Secretary General 
of the Committee, moderate Islamist Dr. Ayoub Al-Ayoub, 
acknowledged that the GOK, especially Prime Minister Sheikh 
Sabah Al-Ahmed, would never tolerate the implementation of 
Shari'a law in "contentious" areas such as women's rights or 
the Penal Code, nor would the GOK support any measures that 
would contradict the "current open environment" in Kuwait. 
Many Kuwaiti liberals argue that the Shari'a Committee is 
unnecessary and should be dissolved. 
 
(U) LIBERALS DECRY "DANGEROUS CAMPAIGN AGAINST FREEDOM" 
--------------------------------------------- ---------- 
 
6.(SBU) Some 500 liberals reportedly participated in a rally 
at the Kuwait Graduates Society, a well established liberal 
NGO, on May 17 to protest the new GOK restrictions on public 
concerts, accusing the GOK of engaging in a "dangerous 
campaign against freedom." Seven liberal NGOs also reportedly 
issued a joint statement calling the new restrictions an 
"attack" on Kuwait's constitution. At an informal evening 
gathering last week at a well-known liberal household, 
several attendees told Poloff that Islamist parliamentarians 
had gone too far this time in trying to advance their 
political and social agenda, and that most Kuwaitis do not 
support their actions. The liberal editor-in-chief of the 
English language daily Arab Times wrote in a scathing 
editorial on May 19 that "people have woken from the coma 
induced by Islamic political groups, who use religion as a 
cover to impose their will on others by telling them what is 
right and wrong." 
 
7.(SBU) Significantly, 22 MPs, including Islamic 
Constitutional Movement (ICM) MPs Dr. Nasser Al-Sane and Dr. 
Mohammed Al-Bossairi, submitted a petition last week calling 
for the postponement of the "grilling" of Information 
Minister Abulhassan. (Note: ICM, which has ties to the Muslim 
Brotherhood, is the most moderate of the three main Islamist 
political groups here. End Note). They reportedly appealed to 
three hardline Islamist MPs (Scientific Salafi MPs Dr. Waleed 
Al-Tabtabaei and Dr. Awad Barad Al-Enezi, and independent 
Islamist Dr. Faisal Al-Mislim) to delay the "grilling" in 
order to give the GOK an opportunity to implement the new 
concert regulations. Rifts within the Islamic Bloc were 
already evident before the concert issue when ICM members 
boycotted a sparsely attended Scientific Salafi-sponsored 
rally at the National Assembly in April protesting U.S. 
"genocide" against Sunni Muslims in Fallujah. The ICM's new 
younger leaders are eager to portray the organization as 
moderate and progressive (ref A), and the organization has 
distanced itself in practice from more hardline Islamists on 
Iraq, women's political rights, and the "grilling" of 
Abulhassan. 
 
(U) NEW LIBERAL ALLIANCE TO CHALLENGE ISLAMIST INFLUENCE 
--------------------------------------------- ----------- 
 
8.(C) Various liberal groups established the National 
Democratic Alliance (NDA) in early 2004 (around the same time 
as the ICM undertook its structural and personnel 
reorganization) as a loose umbrella organization aimed at 
unifying liberals and improving their prospects for election 
to the National Assembly in 2007.  NDA has a new board 
composed of young activists focused on expanding outreach and 
appeal, particularly to Kuwaiti youth. Khaled Al-Mutairi, a 
youngish and well-connected lawyer and former Political 
Advisor to the Minister of Defense, was appointed as the 
NDA's Secretary General in February. In a candid meeting with 
Poloffs in April, Al-Mutairi argued that both the Kuwait 
Democratic Forum (KDF) and the National Democratic Movement 
(NDM), the two main liberal political groupings in the 
country, lost seats in the 2003 parliamentary elections 
because most of their candidates were middle-aged and lacked 
broad popular appeal. He also attributed the defeat to 
disunity among liberals, the lack of a coherent agenda, and 
weak organization compared to Islamist political groups. 
Al-Mutairi said the NDA is actively working to bring liberals 
together on key issues such as women's political rights, 
electoral reform, and economic liberalization. 
 
(U) WOMEN'S RIGHTS BILL MAJOR STEP FOR LIBERALS 
--------------------------------------------- -- 
9.(SBU) The Cabinet's approval May 16 of a new GOK draft bill 
granting women full political rights (coinciding with the 5th 
anniversary of the 1999 Amiri decree that granted these 
rights but was narrowly voted down by the National Assembly) 
represents a major step for the country's liberals (ref B). 
The women's political rights issue may now be the cornerstone 
around which liberal and Islamist political groups wage their 
battle over the future direction of Kuwaiti society. Since 
the Cabinet's approval of the bill May 16, liberal NGOs have 
hosted at least two well-attended seminars on women's 
political participation, in which influential liberal and 
opposition MPs have participated: one May 16 sponsored by the 
Kuwait Writers' Society and one May 23 sponsored jointly by 
the Women's Cultural and Social Society and the Kuwait Human 
Rights Society that included a few ultraconservative Islamist 
attendees. The women's rights bill must be presented to the 
National Assembly for ratification, but it is unlikely to 
reach the floor until the 2004-05 session. 
 
10.(SBU) Liberal groups have also been emboldened by the 
GOK's recent decision to subsume the now independent Faculty 
of Shari'a within Kuwait University's Faculty of Law, and 
recent unprecedented Islamist losses in cooperative society 
elections (Salmiya and Kaifan districts) and in elections to 
the prestigious U.S. branch of the National Union of Kuwait 
Students. Two liberal/independent student groups at Kuwait 
University, "Al-Mustaqilla" and "Democratic Center," 
reportedly forged an alliance recently in order to counter 
the traditional dominance of ICM and Salafi groups. 
 
11.(SBU) COMMENT: Many liberals are cautiously optimistic 
that the GOK may be serious this time in granting women 
political rights. Given the timing of the bill's announcement 
on the 5th anniversary of the 1999 Amiri decree, another GOK 
defeat on this pivotal issue would be deeply embarrassing, 
especially in light of growing regional and international 
criticism of Kuwait's lack of progress compared to some Gulf 
neighbors. Apparent fractures within the Islamic Bloc in 
parliament and the recent string of liberal victories seem to 
be energizing liberals to take the offensive against Islamist 
political and social influence. However, just as the ICM's 
new younger leaders are trying to appeal to a broader 
audience by presenting the newly restructured organization as 
mainstream and progressive, liberal groups may also have to 
change their image. In this predominantly conservative, 
tribal, patriarchal society, liberal groups are -- almost by 
definition -- perceived as parties of irreligion and vice, 
deviating from the cherished values of the culture. This 
largely discredits their efforts to promote greater 
democratic reforms. The less liberals are seen as Western 
"agents" and the more attachment they show to accepted 
values, the greater their appeal may be, especially to 
Kuwaiti youth. 
URBANCIC