US embassy cable - 04KUWAIT4100

C O N F I D E N T I A L SECTION 01 OF 02 KUWAIT 004100 
 
SIPDIS 
 
FOR NEA/ARPI 
 
E.O. 12958: DECL: 11/28/2014 
TAGS: PREL, PGOV, KU 
SUBJECT: TWO EDITORS AGREE: UNCERTAIN SUCCESSION IS 
KUWAIT'S MOST PRESSING PROBLEM 
 
REF: KUWAIT 03580 
 
Classified By: Ambassador Richard LeBaron for reasons 1.4 (b) and (d) 
 
1. (C) SUMMARY AND COMMENT: In courtesy calls by Ambassador 
LeBaron on the editors of Kuwait's top two Arabic-language 
dailies, each editor cited Kuwait's uncertain ruling family 
succession as the number one problem now facing the nation. 
The two papers, Al-Qabas and Al-Rai Al-Aam, differ 
significantly in tone and slant. And each editor's opinion on 
Kuwait's other pressing problems differed widely. But both 
men independently agreed that uncertainty surrounding royal 
succession, especially if de facto ruler Prime Minister 
Shaykh Sabah were to die, poses the most immediate danger to 
Kuwait's continued stability and prosperity. The ailing 
health of Kuwait's leadership continues to be a popular topic 
of conversation. Post contacts often mention that PM Shaykh 
Sabah is the same age as the frail Amir and the unstable 
Crown Prince, and comment that his reign would likely be 
short, but this is the first time anyone we have heard this 
degree of concern about his health. END SUMMARY AND COMMENT. 
 
"Who Would Run the Country?" 
---------------------------- 
 
2. (C) Walid Al-Nesf, editor-in-chief of Al-Qabas, the paper 
of record for Kuwait's liberal academics and intellectuals, 
took a broad view of Kuwait's place in the world, citing 
Iraq's prospects for stability and Iran's nuclear weapons 
program as Kuwait's most pressing problems outside of the 
succession issue. But he was clear on what troubled him the 
most: "If Shaykh Sabah died, who would run the country? Is 
this not a problem?" Jassem Boodai, whose top-selling Al-Rai 
Al-Aam newspaper favors sensationalist coverage of world 
events and hosts columns by some of Kuwait's most extreme 
Islamist voices, was more parochial in his view of Kuwait's 
problems, but he arrived at the same conclusion. Boodai said 
that he feared the destabilizing effects on Kuwait if turmoil 
in Saudi Arabia caused large numbers of Saudis from tribes 
such as the Mutairis and the Otaibis, large numbers of whom 
also live in Kuwait, to migrate to Kuwait. He also lamented 
the large U.S. presence in Kuwait and the sense of dependence 
it engendered among Kuwaitis. But these were minor issues 
compared to succession, he said: "Who is after Shaykh Sabah? 
It's a big problem." 
 
"A Long Time to Build, Easy to Bring Down" 
------------------------------------------ 
 
3. (C) Both men conceded that the uncertainty was good for 
the newspaper business, and that printing periodic public 
statements from representatives of the various competing 
royal factions sold papers. But both seemed genuinely 
concerned at what the death of PM Shaykh Sabah, who is 75 and 
has a pacemaker, might mean for Kuwait's continued stability. 
Boodai, who is close to the prime minister, who he referred 
to as "close to expiring," was more expansive in his 
uncertainty. Referring to Kuwait's democratic development 
since Sabah the First was appointed Amir of what is now 
Kuwait in the eighteenth century, he said, "It takes a long 
time to build, but it's easy to bring down. Kuwait is too 
small, too fragile, to handle an internal problem." 
 
4. (C) Boodai referred to the various possible candidates for 
the crown, including Shaykh Salem Al-Ali, head of the 
National Guard, and Shaykh Hamed Al-Sabah, the Prime 
Minister's son, as horses lined up in boxes at the start of a 
horse race, and warned of the damage an unfair race -- "one 
trying to topple this guy, and topple that guy" -- could have 
on the nation. He then compared the turmoil of such a 
contested succession to a heart attack. There was a small 
chance that the patient might survive, he said, but even if 
he did, there was likely to be physical and psychological 
damage. 
 
Al-Sabahs are Bad for Business 
------------------------------ 
 
5. (C) Both men also spoke more broadly about the ruling 
family, and each sounded a similar note on the role of the 
royals in the commercial sector. "They should stay out of 
banking," Al-Nesf said, suggesting instead that the Al-Sabah 
focus on real estate. He cited royal ties to what he 
described as two of Kuwait's less successful banks, 
Commercial Bank and Burgan Bank, and said that a banking 
business was too difficult to run while simultaneously 
running a country. 
 
6. (C) Boodai was less charitable. Citing the pact agreed 
upon when the Al-Sabah were appointed rulers, that they would 
rule and leave commerce to the merchant families, he warned, 
"some (Al-Sabah) are crossing the line." He cited Shaykh 
Hamed Al-Sabah as "the worst of the worst," and called his 
usage of family ties to help his business prospects "unfair." 
(Note: Boodai is a member of one of the prominent merchant 
families presumably edged out when the Al-Sabah make forays 
into business. End Note.) 
 
 
 
 
LEBARON