US embassy cable - 04KUWAIT2335

C O N F I D E N T I A L SECTION 01 OF 02 KUWAIT 002335 
 
SIPDIS 
 
STATE FOR NEA/ARP, NEA/NGA 
 
E.O. 12958: DECL: 07/25/2014 
TAGS: PREL, KU, IZ 
SUBJECT: AMBASSADOR'S FAREWELL CALLS ON PRIME MINISTER AND 
FOREIGN MINISTER 
 
REF: A. KUWAIT 1810 B. KUWAIT 2245 
 
Classified By: Amb. Richard H. Jones for reasons 1.4 (b) and (d) 
 
1. (C) Summary: On July 24, the Ambassador paid farewell 
visits to Prime Minister Shaykh Sabah al-Ahmed Al-Sabah and 
Foreign Minister Shaykh Dr. Mohammed al-Sabah. Discussions 
centered largely on the situation in Iraq, including the 
Interim Government's ability to secure the country in the 
face of ongoing unrest and the current and future status of 
Iraq's security forces.  On the GOK's domestic agenda, the 
Prime Minister and Foreign Minister both indicated the 
government considered economic reform and development -- not 
national security -- to be its highest priorities.  The 
Foreign Minister also informed the Ambassador that a planned 
Amiri decree on Article 98 had been decided against; the GOK 
instead plans to bring the signed Article 98 agreement to a 
vote in the National Assembly in October.  End Summary. 
 
The Prime Minister 
----------------------- 
2. (C)  Having recently returned from a four-nation, 
economic-themed official tour through Asia, Prime Minister 
Shaykh Sabah was focused on the economic gains Kuwait is 
attempting to realize in the wake of the liberation of Iraq 
and the removal of the threat posed by Saddam Hussein.  The 
Prime Minister emphasized that it was time for Kuwait to 
start looking for ways to diversify its economy, and noted 
that the agreements that had been signed during his trip, 
along with the recently passed Foreign Investment Law, were 
aimed at attracting foreign capital to the Kuwaiti economy. 
He confirmed that the GOK would move forward with plans to 
develop Bubiyan Island into a commercial port -- possibly 
including rail ties into Iraq -- within four years. 
 
3. (C) Turning to Iraq, Shaykh Sabah advised that the US 
withdraw its troops from major population centers, allowing 
the Interim Iraqi Government (IIG) to deal with the 
insurgency.  He said the IIG would ask for help when 
necessary and observed that the US had already lost more than 
enough troops in Iraq.  On Kuwait's involvement in Iraq, 
Shaykh Sabah said the GOK would "stay away" from direct 
involvement there, opting to engage the IIG, many of whom he 
said spend time in Kuwait.  The Ambassador suggested that one 
way for Kuwait to engage with Iraq would be to agree to the 
Iraqi request that Kuwait sell Iraq 200 MW of electricity. 
Shaykh Sabah promised Kuwait would sell the Iraqis the 
requested electricity, if it could spare it. 
 
4 (C) Inquiring about Iraq's military capabilities, the Prime 
Minister shared that he had heard the United States would be 
providing Iraq with aircraft.  The Ambassador explained that 
the only such aircraft he was aware of were for surveillance 
or transport purposes.  He assured the Prime Minster that 
there were currently no plans for sales of fighter or bomber 
aircraft to Iraq. 
 
The Foreign Minister 
------------------------- 
5. (C) Fresh from the 'Iraq Neighbors Conference,' in Cairo, 
Foreign Minister Shaykh Dr. Mohammed al-Sabah offered the 
Ambassador a readout on developments at the meeting.  He 
reported that the group had agreed that its respective 
Ministers of Interior would meet in Iran to discuss increased 
cooperation on border and security issues.  In addition, he 
said, the Iraqis had proposed the creation of a "contact 
group" between Iraq's neighbors, the UNSC and "other 
international fora."  Dr. Mohammed said the idea was tabled 
after the Syrian and Iranian representatives expressed 
concern that "other international fora" could include NATO. 
He added that Kuwait had successfully objected to a Syrian 
attempt to include language in the final communiqu 
condemning Israel for infiltrating agents into Iraq.  Dr. 
Mohammed said the 'Neighbors' planned to meet again in Amman 
in two to three months' time. 
 
Engaging Iraq 
 
6. (C) Eager to draw on Ambassador Jones' experience in Iraq, 
Dr. Mohammed asked him what the Iraqi people thought of 
Kuwait, and how Kuwait should engage Iraq.  The Ambassador 
said that Iraqis had suffered from decades of propaganda 
about Kuwait, and would need to be handled carefully.  He 
advised against rushing into large projects in Iraq, but 
suggested that responding to Iraqi requests, such as the 
current request to buy excess generated electricity, would be 
the optimal way to support the stabilization of Iraq and 
engender good will. 
 
7. (C) On the topic of the employees of a Kuwaiti company who 
had been kidnapped in Iraq, the Ambassador suggested that 
companies could insulate themselves from such problems in the 
future by hiring Iraqis.  Dr. Mohammed said he would pass 
this suggestion on to Kuwaiti companies operating in Iraq. 
 
Article 98 
 
8. (C) Responding to the Ambassador's question on the 
promised Article 98 Amiri decree (ref a), Dr. Mohammed said 
the GOK had been advised instead by their legal department to 
submit the Article 98 agreement to the National Assembly for 
approval, and would bring the agreement to a vote soon after 
the end of the current parliamentary recess in October.  He 
said the GOK did not want to repeat the events of early July, 
when a special session of the Assembly to consider a recess 
decree had been canceled due to the lack of a quorum (ref b). 
 
9. (C) Turning to other domestic matters, the Foreign 
Minister said the Prime Minister's trip to Asia had signaled 
a new era for Kuwait.  Noting that security issues had 
dominated Kuwait,s political agenda for fifteen years, he 
said the government would now turn its attention to "back to 
trade."  He clearly implied that Kuwait was eager to regain 
its mantle as the Gulf's economic leader. 
 
UNGA 
 
10. Shaykh Dr. Mohammed said that the Kuwaiti delegation to 
the UN General Assembly would initially be led by the Prime 
Minister, who would deliver the Kuwaiti speech, but leave 
shortly thereafter for vacation (Note: Shaykh Sabah maintains 
a vacation home in New Jersey. End Note.)  The Foreign 
Minister would lead the delegation from this point onward. 
 
11. (C) Comment: The fact that both Shaykh Sabah and Dr. 
Mohammed chose to highlight economic development as the new 
priority issue for the GOK indicates that Kuwait may have 
finally turned a psychological corner, leaving the dark cloud 
of the invasion behind and attempting to regain their role as 
the regional economic leader. However, such a role may bring 
with it a fundamental shift in Kuwaiti attitudes towards its 
traditional allies.  Shaykh Sabah's visit to Asia, which 
included a stop in China, may be a clue as to where the GOK 
feels its economic future may lie.  End Comment. 
TUELLER