US embassy cable - 04KUWAIT4425

C O N F I D E N T I A L KUWAIT 004425 
 
SIPDIS 
 
STATE FOR NEA/ARPI, INR/B 
 
E.O. 12958: DECL: 12/19/2014 
TAGS: PREL, KU 
SUBJECT: SHARAR GRILLING MEANT TO SEND OFFICIAL MESSAGE ON 
CORRUPTION 
 
REF: A. KUWAIT 4407 
 
     B. KUWAIT 4219 
     C. KUWAIT 3391 
 
Classified By: Ambassador Richard LeBaron for reasons 1.4 (b) and (d) 
 
1. (C) A senior advisor to Prime Minister Shaykh Sabah 
Al-Ahmed Al-Sabah told Poloff December 15 that the December 6 
grilling of Minister of State for Cabinet Affairs Mohammed 
Dhaifallah Sharar (ref b) had been engineered by the 
government in an attempt to "send a message" to members of 
the royal family who are engaged in corrupt activities. 
Specifically, the advisor said that one of the sons of 
National Guard Chief Shaykh Salem Al-Ali Al-Salem Al-Sabah 
was the intended recipient of the message, which he 
cryptically paraphrased as "don't play with fire."  (Note: 
Although the advisor did not say which son, Shaykh Salem has 
three prominent sons: Ali, a former Minister of Finance and 
Communication and the majority stakeholder in the Commercial 
Bank of Kuwait on behalf of his father; Fahad, the Director 
General of the Public Authority for Agricultural Affairs and 
Fisheries Resources, which was criticized as a corrupt 
organization during Sharar's grilling; and Ahmed, the 
Chairman and Managing Director of the Securities Group 
Company, a financial brokerage house.  Ali and Ahmed are 
known to be heavily involved in trading at the Kuwait Stock 
Exchange.  End Note.) 
 
2. (C) Responding to Poloff's question about the recent spate 
of publicity on corruption issues, the advisor said that the 
GOK was undertaking a campaign to expose corruption in Kuwait 
at the behest of the Prime Minister. 
 
3. (C) Comment: Although it may be true that the GOK is 
undertaking a campaign to expose corruption, it is likely 
that the campaign is extrememly limited in scope and is 
fueled as much by family rivalry as by altruism. Shaykh Sabah 
is no great friend of Shaykh Salem's, especially after the 
latter's public attempts to raise his profile (refs a and c). 
 Additionally, Shaykh Sabah's sons, like Shaykh Salem's, are 
some of the wealthiest in the country and have themselves 
been accused of corruption.  That the government may have 
engineered a grilling to prove a point is more significant, 
as it shows the lengths to which Shaykh Sabah will go to 
avoid direct conflict -- even with family rivals that his 
advisors insist have little influence. 
LEBARON