US embassy cable - 04KUWAIT4426

C O N F I D E N T I A L KUWAIT 004426 
 
SIPDIS 
 
DEPT FOR NEA/ARPI 
 
E.O. 12958: DECL: 12/19/2014 
TAGS: PREL, PBTS, PTER, IZ, KU, UN 
SUBJECT: GOOD FENCES MAKE GOOD NEIGHBORS: GOK REQUESTS UN 
VALIDATION OF IRAQ-KUWAIT BORDER 
 
REF: KUWAIT 3878 
 
Classified By: Ambassador Richard LeBaron by reasons 1.4 (B) and (D) 
 
1. (C)  Summary: Kuwaiti Foreign Minister Shaykh Dr. Mohammed 
Sabah Al-Salem Al-Sabah called the Ambassador and British 
Ambassador Christopher Wilton to his office on December 18 to 
provide background on the GOK's request to activate a clause 
in UNSCR 833, requiring the UN to ensure that border posts on 
the Iraq-Kuwait border remain at correct coordinates. Border 
security is a growing concern for the GOK because it wants to 
prevent additional incursions and safeguard itself from 
terrorist infiltration. The GOK wants the UN to assume 
responsibility for integrity of the border and requested the 
ambassadors relay that message to their respective capitals. 
End Summary. 
 
Without UNIKOM, No Border Verification 
-------------------------------------- 
 
2. (SBU) In accordance with UNSCR 833 of 1993, the UN 
Iraq-Kuwait Observation Mission (UNIKOM) demarcated the 
border, agreed upon bilaterally in 1963, with precise 
coordinates for the first time. UNIKOM erected concrete posts 
and patrolled the border. A clause in 833 stipulated UN 
maintenance of the physical representation of the border. 
Responding to the British Ambassador's question about the 
most recent verification of border posts, the FM said it may 
have happened two years ago, if ever. He contended that the 
UN viewed border verification as unnecessary while UNIKOM was 
present. UNIKOM's mandate expired in 2003, and the GOK is now 
requesting the UN contract a third party to ensure the border 
is still properly demarcated. 
 
Alleged Iraq-Kuwait Border Incursions 
------------------------------------- 
 
3. (C) The FM mentioned that recent alleged border incursions 
is one of two reasons for increased concern about proper 
demarcation. The GOK claims a British company, under an Iraqi 
contract, constructed a fence that crosses into Kuwait. The 
British Ambassador said the Interim Iraqi Government (IIG) 
shared with him a picture supposedly illustrating 
construction of a Kuwaiti pipeline that enters into Iraq. In 
his view, the photo did not substantiate the allegation. The 
FM confirmed the existence of a pipeline that lies, according 
to an aide, five meters within Kuwaiti territory, preventing 
the cross-border movement of vehicles but not of people or 
animals. The FM admitted that the alleged incursions seem 
minor, but they are incursions nonetheless. The IIG solution 
to the border problem, said the FM, is the creation of an 
Iraq-Kuwait commission to ensure that the coordinates are 
properly delineated today. This Iraqi suggestion has raised 
suspicions in Kuwait that the Iraqis were re-opening the 
issue of the border. 
 
Keep Terrorist Threat Out of Kuwait 
----------------------------------- 
 
4. (C) The second reason for growing border concerns, the FM 
added, is terrorist infiltration. The FM said that while 
there is a focus on preventing terrorist elements from 
entering Iraq from neighboring countries, the GOK wants to 
prevent terrorists from crossing into Kuwait from Iraq. The 
GOK does not want the daily terrorist threat plaguing Iraq to 
seep into Kuwait. 
 
 
5. (U) Baghdad minimize considered. 
 
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LEBARON