US embassy cable - 05KUWAIT326

C O N F I D E N T I A L SECTION 01 OF 04 KUWAIT 000326 
 
SIPDIS 
 
E.O. 12958: DECL: 01/18/2015 
TAGS: PTER, PREL, EFIN, ETTC, PGOV, EAID, EPET, KISL, KWMN, KU 
SUBJECT: ISLAMIST MP TALKS ABOUT TERRORISM, IRAQI DEBT, 
KUWAIT PROJECT, WOMEN'S RIGHTS 
 
REF: A. KUWAIT 264 
     B. 04 KUWAIT 494 
     C. 04 KUWAIT 91 (STADIS) 
     D. 03 KUWAIT 5188 
     E. 03 KUWAIT 4840 
     F. 03 KUWAIT 3044 
 
1. (C) SUMMARY.  During a January 16 call on influential 
Islamist Member of Parliament (MP) Dr. Nasser Al-Sane, the 
Ambassador discussed a wide range topics, including terrorist 
finance, cancellation of Iraq's debt to Kuwait, the Kuwait 
Project to develop the northern oilfields, and political 
rights for women.  Al-Sane condemned the January 10 and 15 
shoot-outs between terrorists and security forces, saying 
that the ICM is squarely opposed to such acts (ref A).  But 
he expressed concern that not all Islamist be "pigeonholed as 
extremists."  Al-Sane complained to the Ambassador about a 
long-running dispute that he has had with the Treasury 
Department's Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC), saying 
he was still awaiting data promised to him by the former 
director.  The Ambassador pointed out that Kuwait,s 
terrorist finance laws were not sufficiently strong and some 
banking laws need refinement, especially with regard to the 
Financial Intelligence Unit.  Concerning reducing Iraqi debt, 
Al-Sane said he did not see serious opposition in the 
National Assembly if the reductions are justified in terms of 
Paris Club actions. 
 
2.  (C) On the Kuwait Project (a major pending effort to 
revitalize Kuwait's northern oilfields using foreign 
operating companies), Al-Sane said that he still has concerns 
about the project's constitutionality and transparency. 
According to him, the government has made a number of 
missteps that have turned MPs in his movement against the 
project in the past.  Still, Al-Sane has been impressed by 
the lobbying carried out by Kuwait Project Director Ahmed 
Al-Arbeed, (himself an ICM member), and he conceded that the 
Kuwait Project would likely be approved, albeit with "a lot 
of noise."  Al-Sane was highly critical of the current 
cabinet, saying that Prime Minister Shaykh Sabah seemed "like 
a person without a team," and he worried that the Prime 
Minister does not have a clear vision and plan for the 
country's future, nor the proper people around him to 
implement one.  Finally, the Ambassador asked about the 
status of legislation to grant women political rights. 
Al-Sane, who supports women's rights, said the government 
would like to resolve women,s political rights during the 
current session.  According to him, there is much more 
pressure now for granting women's rights, including from 
foreign governments, than there was when it was debated 
before.  In addition, local activists are becoming more 
professional, favoring dialogue to convince others to support 
women's rights.  END SUMMARY. 
 
3.  (C) During a January 16 courtesy call on Islamist Member 
of Parliament (MP) Dr. Nasser Al-Sane, the Ambassador 
discussed a wide range of topics, including terrorist 
finance, cancellation of Iraq's debt to Kuwait, the Kuwait 
Project, and political rights for women.  Al-Sane, a 
prominent member of the Islamic Constitutional Movement (the 
political arm of the Kuwaiti Muslim Brotherhood) and the 
Islamist Social Reform Society (SRS), is an influential 
Islamist within the National Assembly and is more moderate 
than others in the Salafist movements. 
 
Terrorism in Kuwait 
------------------- 
 
4.  (C) Al-Sane condemned the January 10 and 15 shoot-outs 
between terrorists and security forces, saying that the ICM 
is squarely opposed to such acts (ref A).  But he expressed 
concern that not all Islamists be "pigeonholed as 
extremists," citing the case of ICM member Tariq Swaidan 
(also spelled Suwaidan), a Kuwaiti who was an officer with 
the Washington, DC and Virginia branches of the International 
Islamic Relief Organization (IIRO).  Swaidan has been named 
as a defendant in the lawsuit filed by 9/11 victims, 
families against a variety of charities and foreign nationals 
(although neither Swaidan nor IIRO has been formally 
designated by the USG or the UN).  Al-Sane argued that 
Swaidan is very influential in the region and is "just the 
kind of person who we need at this time:"  a moderate who 
supports women,s rights, freedom of speech, and dialogue 
among religions.  He added that moderates like Swaidan should 
be protected, not shunned. 
 
Terrorist Finance and Misunderstandings with OFAC 
--------------------------------------------- ---- 
 
5.  (C) Al-Sane complained to the Ambassador about a 
long-running dispute that he has had with the Treasury 
Department's Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC). 
Al-Sane, whose Social Reform Society (SRS) was the parent 
organization for Lajnat al-Da wa al-Islamiyya (LDI), a 
charity designated by the U.S. and the UN as a supporter of 
terrorism, has been trying to convince OFAC to delist LDI for 
eighteen months.  As part of this effort, Al-Sane has sought 
financial data that reportedly shows transactions made by SRS 
on behalf of LDI after the latter's designation.  After a 
meeting with Al-Sane in October 2003, former OFAC Director 
Richard Newcomb promised to provide these data to the MP, but 
later discovered that a confidentiality agreement with the 
source of the transaction data precluded sharing them (refs 
B-F). 
 
6.  (C) Al-Sane said he met with Newcomb most recently in the 
spring of 2004 when, he alleged, Newcomb told him that they 
needed to "turn a new page" on the topic.  Newcomb told him 
that he could not release the transaction data, but allegedly 
agreed that he could give Al-Sane a "hint" about the 
transactions, like the dates of the transfers, so that SRS 
could clarify.  Al-Sane further claimed that Newcomb said he 
would send someone to Kuwait with all the information that 
Al-Sane needed.  However, no one ever came. 
 
7.  (C) Al-Sane also expressed his displeasure with 
statements attributed to Newcomb in a January 15 Kuwaiti 
newspaper article, which quoted an unnamed "high-ranking 
official"  as saying that Newcomb believed he had received 
poor responses from Kuwait about charities and charitable 
donations. (NOTE.  The relevant portion of the article said 
that "A high-ranking official told Al-Qabas that the former 
director of the Office of Foreign Assets Control at the U.S. 
Treasury, Richard Newcomb, who had visited Kuwait three times 
and discussed the fate of (charitable) donations with the 
government, told him that the government and Islamic 
charitable organizations were not cooperating on this issue. 
The official quoted Newcomb:  'I am greatly disappointed; no 
one has given us what we had requested.  We are aware that 
charitable organizations have committees, and no one knows 
how much money these committees collect, and no one knows 
where this money goes.'")  Al-Sane contended that when he met 
with Newcomb in 2004, "his story was different," and he hoped 
that this was an old quote. 
 
8.  (C) The Ambassador noted that for its part, the Embassy 
has had difficulties getting the GOK to do something about 
Kuwaitis financing terrorist attacks on U.S. soldiers in 
Iraq, and pointed out that Kuwait,s terrorist finance laws 
were not sufficiently strong.  He also noted that some of 
Kuwait,s banking laws need refinement, specifically citing 
the provision that prohibits Kuwait,s Financial Intelligence 
Unit (FIU) from sharing information without the Public 
Prosecutor,s Office,s pre-approval, thereby disabling the 
FIU as an independent, quick-acting entity. 
 
Iraqi Debt 
---------- 
 
9.  (C) The Ambassador asked for Al-Sane's help as a member 
of the Economic and Finance Committee with Iraqi debt 
forgiveness (the committee will have to review any government 
recommendation on debt reduction).  While acknowledging that 
debt relief for Iraq raises emotional issues for Kuwait, the 
Ambassador noted its importance to the Iraqi people and to 
the U.S.-Kuwaiti relationship.  Al-Sane replied that he did 
not see serious opposition in the National Assembly to Iraqi 
debt forgiveness if it was in line with Paris Club reductions 
and could be framed as Kuwait fulfilling its obligations as a 
member of the international community.  He added that he had 
made a public statement on Al Jazeera in support of reducing 
Iraq's debt.  Al-Sane also suggested that the GOK consider 
reducing Kuwaitis' personal debts if it is going to reduce 
Iraq's debts (he cited the Ministry of Energy's plans to 
collect residents' outstanding water and electricity bills, 
some of which are 14 years delinquent).  When pressed, he 
admitted that the government's failure to offer Kuwaitis 
leniency would not be a deal-breaker. 
 
Kuwait Project 
-------------- 
 
10. (C) On the Kuwait Project, which would open up the 
northern oilfields to foreign investors, Al-Sane said that he 
still has concerns about the project's constitutionality and, 
more important, its transparency (Al-Sane is the vice chair 
of the Global Organization of Parliamentarians against 
Corruption, or GOPAC).  He noted that the government had only 
last week given the parliament documents on the Kuwait 
Project that the National Assembly had been requesting since 
1998. Because the GOK has always kept the project "hidden and 
not transparent," the ICM has opposed it, he said. 
 
11. (C) According to Al-Sane, the government has made a 
number of missteps.  First, the cabinet has been inconsistent 
about whether or not it would consult with the parliament 
before bidding out the project. (NOTE.  Since Kuwait's 
constitution stipulates that its natural resources belong to 
the people -- and not the state -- there is widespread debate 
about whether opening up Kuwait's fields to foreign investors 
would violate the constitution.  To circumvent the 
constitutional question, the government considered framing 
the Kuwait Project as a pure services contract that would not 
cede ownership of the oil, and would therefore not require 
parliamentary approval.  END NOTE.) 
 
12. (C) Al-Sane said that the Prime Minister spoke privately 
with the parliament at the beginning of the current session 
and said that the government did not need to bring the 
project before the National Assembly, but that the government 
might keep them informed as a courtesy.  "We did not like 
that language," Al-Sane added.  By contrast, Al-Sane 
reported, Energy Minister Shaykh Ahmed Al-Fahad Al-Sabah 
delivered a different message, saying that the government 
would never proceed without the National Assembly's 
involvement and that he personally did not want to be known 
as the minister who gave away Kuwait's resources.  One week 
later, however, Shaykh Ahmad went to the press to present the 
same argument as the Prime Minister. 
 
13. (C) Second, Al-Sane has concerns about alleged backroom 
deal-making by former Energy Minister Shaykh Saud Nasser 
Al-Sabah with foreign oil companies and the latter's failure 
to clear the record.  Nevertheless, Al-Sane said that he has 
been impressed by the lobbying carried out by Kuwait Project 
Director Ahmed Al-Arbeed, (himself an ICM member), and his 
efforts to outline the project's technical, legal and 
financial merits.  The Ambassador replied that he had spent 
some time with Al-Arbeed, and believed Al-Arbeed understood 
the need for transparency.  The Ambassador added that he 
hoped the project's past history would not unduly bias MPs 
against it.  Al-Sane conceded that the Kuwait Project would 
likely be approved, but that there would be "a lot of noise." 
 He also suggested that the government begin actively 
campaigning on the project's behalf, both with the National 
Assembly and through the media. 
 
Shaykh Sabah:  "Like a Person without a Team" 
--------------------------------------------- 
 
14. (C) Al-Sane was highly critical of the current cabinet, 
saying that Prime Minister Shaykh Sabah seemed "like a person 
without a team."  At the same time, he commented, ministers 
are frustrated because the Prime Minister is not backing them 
on issues that might be controversial, but in which the Prime 
Minister says he believes.  As an example, Al-Sane spoke 
about the former housing minister, who he said did a good job 
of fighting corruption but had to resign because of the 
unpopularity of his actions.  Although the Prime Minister 
said he supports rooting out corruption, he replaced the 
housing minister with someone "who gets all smiles," Al-Sane 
said. 
 
15. (C) Al-Sane said he was also worried that the Prime 
Minister does not have a clear vision and plan for the 
country's future, noting that several long-term programs -- 
all of which differ from one another -- have been proposed. 
He contended that the government has a majority in 
Parliament, and therefore has the opportunity to pass 
legislation to promote its vision.  "He will never get a 
better Parliament than this one," Al-Sane asserted.  However, 
he added, the government is not using its majority every 
time.  Rather, when it is uncertain how the public will react 
to certain initiatives, the government is not pushing its 
agenda and is instead "burning" MPs who champion these 
initiatives. 
 
Women's Rights 
-------------- 
 
16. (C) The Ambassador concluded by asking about the status 
of legislation to promote women's rights.  Al-Sane said that 
the ICM's new secretary-general supports women's political 
rights (as does Al-Sane), and has asked the ICM to reconsider 
its position opposing women's right to run for office.  The 
secretary-general's position has been opposed by the ICM's 
 
SIPDIS 
general assembly (most of whose members do not favor women's 
political rights), but the shura majlis (consultative 
council) -- which may overrule the general assembly -- has 
yet to meet about this issue.  On a less encouraging note, he 
said that the secretary general makes it a practice not to 
lobby on behalf of his positions. 
 
17. (C) The Ambassador inquired when the issue of women's 
political rights would come up in the National Assembly. 
Al-Sane replied that the Prime Minister told him that that 
the government would like to resolve women's political rights 
during the current session.  Al-Sane added that if the 
government would like to move more quickly, they must simply 
declare this to be an urgent issue, which would force the 
National Assembly to set a date for debate.   According to 
Al-Sane, there is much more pressure now for granting women's 
rights, including from foreign governments, than there was 
when it was debated before.  "All (diplomatic) missions in 
Kuwait are pressing" the Kuwaitis for change, he noted, both 
in Kuwait and through Kuwait's embassies abroad. 
 
18. (C) In addition, Al-Sane observed, local activists are 
becoming more professional, favoring dialogue to convince 
others to support women's rights.  Al-Sane said that a "great 
majority" of ICM's women members are for women's political 
rights, and the ICM has started including them in the "men's 
meetings" (albeit separated by a barrier); previously, the 
women met separately. 
 
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LEBARON