US embassy cable - 05KUWAIT2712

C O N F I D E N T I A L SECTION 01 OF 02 KUWAIT 002712 
 
SIPDIS 
 
E.O. 12958: DECL: 06/19/2020 
TAGS: PGOV, ECON, PINR, KU 
SUBJECT: A SHAYKHA ON THE MOVE IN KUWAIT'S EDUCATION AND 
BUSINESS CIRCLES: DANA NASSER SABAH AL-AHMED AL-SABAH 
 
REF: 04 KUWAIT 3544 
 
Classified By: Ambassador Richard LeBaron for reasons 1.4 (b), (d). 
 
1.  (C) President of the American University of Kuwait (AUK) 
Dr. Shafiq Al-Ghabra recently invited the Ambassador to meet 
the chair of the university's board of trustees Shaykha Dana 
Nasser Al-Ahmed Al-Sabah, granddaughter of the Prime 
Minister.  Accompanying her at the June 13 meeting were Dr. 
Al-Ghabra and two other investors/board members/founders of 
AUK -- Wael Abdul Ghafoor (well-known to the Embassy as head 
of the American School of Kuwait) and Mishaal Al-Ali (a 
businessman/major AUK investor).  Shaykha Dana turned out to 
be a relaxed, informal interlocutor.  She met the Ambassador 
in her office at the University, dressed informally in 
western-style slacks and blouse.  Now in her mid-thirties, 
she said that she had spent a year as a student at the 
University of Indiana, a year she characterized as equivalent 
to or better than the three years she spent at Kuwait 
University.  She was dismissive of the quality of education 
provided currently at Kuwait University and clearly delighted 
to be leading a private effort to supply a U.S.-style liberal 
arts education.  She and her associates commented on the 
difference in student behavior at AUK when compared to public 
institutions. For example, students are much more likely to 
stay around the campus and socialize after hours.  They are 
more open to discussion, and gender barriers are greatly 
reduced.  During the discussion with the Ambassador, Shaykha 
Dana and her partners talked about plans for a military 
academy (for troubled students) that they were considering 
placing on Failaka Island and indicated an interest in 
pursuing private options for a special needs school.  Dr. 
Al-Ghabra told the Ambassador later that Shaykha Dana does 
not get involved in the day-to-day operations of AUK.  He 
meets with her for about an hour a week and briefs her on 
major financial issues.  She also takes an interest in 
building projects and campus expansion plans. 
 
2.  (C) Although she is sympathetic, the Shaykha said she had 
not been active as a "campaigner" for women's rights.  She, 
like many liberals in Kuwait, fears that the short-term 
beneficiaries of expanded political rights for women will be 
the better-organized Islamists.  She said she has been 
invited to attend a major women's conference in Paris in the 
fall, and complained that she had been roped indirectly into 
a speaking role on a panel.  She noted that she had been 
talking a few weeks ago with her grandfather about his ideas 
for appointing a woman cabinet minister.  She was supportive 
of Dr. Moussouma Al-Mubarak (who was appointed) and negative 
about another candidate the PM had in mind (not appointed). 
(She does not play a public role at AUK, where she could 
easily be mistaken for one of the young professors, if not a 
student.  Dr. Al-Ghabra is the face of the university 
leadership.) 
 
Follow the Money 
---------------- 
 
3.  (C) AUK is a business venture backed by KIPCO (Kuwait 
Projects Company), now billing itself as the largest private 
company in Kuwait.  KIPCO invested in United Education 
Company, whose board makes up the major investors in AUK. 
Shaykha Dana is the Chair of United Education Company. 
Separately, she is General Manager of Al-Futooh Investment 
Company.  Al-Futooh manages the investments of the Prime 
Minister and his direct family, whom are the majority owners 
of KIPCO.  The Prime Minister's other son and Shaykha Dana's 
uncle, Shaykh Hamad Sabah Al-Ahmed, is the head of KIPCO, and 
well known for his business drive and absence of any apparent 
interest in politics.  The rapid growth of KIPCO and its many 
subsidiaries, (see WWW.kipcogp.com), has caused a bit of 
resentment among those in Kuwait who recall the traditional 
role of the Al-Sabah family as the governors/regulators for 
the business families, not a business family itself. 
 
Follow the Family 
----------------- 
 
4. (C) Shaykha Dana is the grand-daughter of the Prime 
Minister Shaykh Sabah Al-Ahmed Al-Sabah and daughter of 
Shaykh Nasser Al-Sabah Al-Ahmed Al-Sabah and Shaykha Hussa 
bint Sabah Al-Sabah.  Her parents are widely respected for 
their extensive Islamic and pre-Islamic art collection and 
their patronage of the arts worldwide.  Shaykh Nasser serves 
as an honorary board member of the Metropolitan Museum. 
However, Shaykha Dana seems to be following more closely in 
the footsteps of her father's brother, Shaykh Hamad Sabah 
Al-Ahmed Al-Sabah.  She is much more interested in business. 
Shafiq Al-Ghabra predicted to the Ambassador privately that 
he fully expected her to lead KIPCO at some point in the 
future.  She has three young sons of 12, 10, and 7, and is 
married to Shaykh Abdullah Salem Al-Sabah Al-Salem (her 
cousin and son of former Deputy Prime Minister Shaykh Salem 
Sabah Al-Salem). 
 
Notes on AUK 
------------ 
5. (SBU)  Founded in 2003, AUK is off to a fairly promising 
start.  It has about 500 students and will expand to 2000 at 
it current downtown campus, with plans to build a new 
U.S.-style campus in the coming years.  Its main academic 
focus now is English language preparation for students who 
wish to pursue its liberal arts degree program.  Although it 
has a few more advanced transfer students, it will not have a 
full graduating class until 2007.  It is seeking Kuwaiti 
accreditation, which will allow for its credits to be 
transferred to other institutions in and outside the country. 
 It expects to receive local accreditation in June 2006.  It 
is also pursuing U.S. accreditation through the New England 
regional accrediting organization, but this will not be 
possible until one or two years after it graduates its first 
full class.  It has partnered with Dartmouth for help in 
academic standards and faculty recruitment. 
 
 
Comment 
------- 
 
6.  (C)  When most people in Kuwait talk about the lack of 
leaders among the younger generation of Al-Sabah's, they are 
referring to the young males, and not even taking into 
consideration the female side of the family.  Few of the 
female members of the family are visible players in Kuwaiti 
politics or business.  None has the profile of Shaykha Moza 
al-Misnad in Qatar, but they are far more active and visible 
than their Saudi royal counterparts.  The engineer named to 
the Municipal Council, Shaykha Fatima bint Nasser Al-Sabah, 
was not previously known to the public.  Shaykha Amthal bint 
Ahmed is a public player on environmental concerns, and many 
of the female members support charities.  Perhaps the most 
entrepreneurial of the senior female members of the family is 
(or at least was) Shaykha Souad bint Mohammed Al-Sabah 
Al-Mohammed Al-Sabah who married Shaykh Abdullah, son of late 
Mubarak the Great.  Shaykha Souad, who is also the mother of 
young influential Shaykh Mohammed Al-Abdullah Al-Mubarak, 
amassed a fortune representing foreign defense companies and 
running her own business interests.  Nonetheless, there are 
scores of young female members of the Al-Sabah family who are 
well educated and probably more active in business than we 
know. 
LEBARON