US embassy cable - 90RIYADH6017

UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 02 RIYADH 06017 
 
E.O. 12356:  N/A 
TAGS:  PREL, IZ, KU, SA 
SUBJECT:  IRAQ/KUWAIT MEETING IN JEDDAH 
 
1.  SUMMARY.  LOCAL PRESS REPORT THE BEGINNING OF TALKS 
BETWEEN IRAQ AND KUWAIT IN JEDDAH ON JULY 31.  AS 
ANTICIPATED, CROWN PRINCE ABDALLAH RECEIVED IRAQI VICE 
CHAIRMAN IBRAHIM AND THE KUWAITI CROWN PRINCE.  KING FAHD 
RECEIVED THE TWO DELEGATION HEADS AND GAVE A DINNER IN 
HONOR OF THE TWO DELEGATIONS.  CROWN PRINCE ABDALLAH 
ATTENDED THE OPENING SESSION OF THE TALKS; THIS WAS 
FOLLOWED BY A CLOSED SESSION OF THE TWO DELGATION HEADS 
ALONE.  AFTER ABOUT TWO HOURS OTHER MEMBERS OF THE TWO 
DELEGATIONS JOINED.  NO OFFICIAL STATEMENTS WERE MADE 
AFTER THE MEETINGS AND THE TALKS EVIDENTLY ARE CONTINUING 
ON AUGUST 1.  THE FOLLOWING IS A COMPOSITE SUMMARY OF 
THIS MORNING'S (AUGUST 1) LOCAL PRESS REPORTING.  END 
SUMMARY. 
 
2.  BILATERAL TALKS BETWEEN IRAQ AND KUWAIT STARTED AT 
THE JEDDAH CONFERENCE PALACE JULY 31, 1990.  VICE 
CHAIRMAN OF THE IRAQI REVOLUTIONARY COMMAND COUNCIL IZZAT 
IBRAHIM LED THE IRAQI DELEGATION TO THE TALKS WHILE 
KUWAITI CROWN PRINCE AND PRIME MINISTER SAAD AL-ABDALLAH 
LED HIS COUNTRY'S TEAM.  THE IRAQI TEAM COMPRISES MEMBER 
OF THE IRAQI RCC DR. SAADOUN HAMMADI (FORMER MINISTER OF 
OIL WHO PLAYED DISTINGUISHED ROLES IN FOREIGN POLICY) AND 
A NUMBER OF IRAQI TOP OFFICIALS.  THE KUWAITI DELEGATION 
INCLUDES MINISTER OF STATE FOR FOREIGN AFFAIRS NASSER 
AL-SABAH; MINISTER OF JUSTICE DARI ABDALLAH AL-OTHMAN; 
OIL MINISTER DR. RASHID SALEM AL-OMERY AND OTHER 
OFFICIALS.  (NEITHER KUWAITI FOREIGN MINISTER SABAH 
AL-AHMAD AL-JABER NOR HIS IRAQI COUNTERPART TARIQ AZIZ 
APPEARED AMONG THE TWO TEAMS.) 
 
3.  CROWN PRINCE ABDALLAH RECEIVED AZIZ AND SAAD 
AL-ABDALLAH ON THEIR ARRIVAL AT JEDDAH AIRPORT.  WHILE 
AZIZ DID NOT MAKE ANY STATEMENT ON HIS ARRIVAL SAAD 
AL-ABDALLAH MADE A STATEMENT IN WHICH HE SAID HE MUST 
REGISTER HIS THANKS TO THE ARAB LEADERS FOR THEIR SINCERE 
EFFORTS FOR CONTAINMENT OF THE TRANSIENT DISPUTE BETWEEN 
IRAQ AND KUWAIT.  HE THANKED IN PARTICULAR KING FAHD AND 
MUBARAK WHO HAD PAVED THE WAY FOR THE JEDDAH MEETING.  HE 
SAID, "I LOOK FORWARD WITH OPEN HEART TO MEETING WITH MY 
BROTHER IZZAT IBRAHIM AND I UNDERLINE THE INTEREST OF 
KUWAIT IN PARTICIPATING POSITIVELY IN THIS MEETING HOPING 
THAT IT WOULD CONSTITUTE A BASIC STEP TOWARD REACHING A 
FINAL AND JUST RESOLUTION OF ALL OUTSTANDING PROBLEMS AND 
ISSUES BETWEEN THE TWO BROTHERLY COUNTRIES." 
 
4.  KING FAHD RECEIVED IZZAT IBRAHIM AND SAAD AL-ABDALLAH 
IN THE PRESENCE OF CROWN PRINCE ABDALLAH WHO ATTENDED THE 
OPENING SESSION OF THE BILATERAL TALKS.  KING FAHD WISHED 
THE TWO DELEGATIONS SUCCESS AND BEST WISHES. 
 
5.  IMMEDIATELY AFTER THE OPENING SESSION, IZZAT IBRAHIM 
AND SHEIKH SAAD AL-ABDALLAH HELD A CLOSED SESSION ALONE. 
AFTER APPROXIMATELY TWO HOURS, HAMMADI AND ALI HASSAN 
AL-MAJID (MINISTER OF LOCAL GOVERNMENT) JOINED THE IRAQI 
SIDE WHILE NASSER AL-SABAH AND DARI ABDALLAH AL-OTHMAN 
REPORTEDLY JOINED THE KUWAITI SIDE.  NO OFFICIAL 
STATEMENTS WERE MADE AFTER YESTERDAY'S ROUND OF TALKS. 
THE TALKS EVIDENTLY ARE CONTINUING.  ONE SOURCE 
REPORTEDLY SAID THAT THEY WILL COMPLETE THEIR WORK TODAY, 
HOWEVER. 
 
6.  KING FAHD GAVE A DINNER IN HONOR OF THE TWO 
DELEGATIONS AT AL-HAMRA GUEST PALACE.  CROWN PRINCE 
ABDALLAH; PRINCE ABDULRAHMAN BIN ABDULAZIZ; PRINCE 
MITTEB; PRINCE BADR; PRINCE FAWWAZ AND PRINCE MAJID (ALL 
BROTHERS OF THE KING) ATTENDED THE DINNER. 
 
 
7.  SAUDI PRESS COMMENTS 
 
SAUDI PRESS EDITORIAL COMMENTS ON THE JEDDAH MEETING WERE 
HEAVY ON RHETORIC.  WRITERS HEAPED PRAISE ON THE 
"HISTORIC" ROLE OF KING FAHD FOR PAVING THE WAY FOR THE 
MEETING RATHER THAN COMMENTING ON THE DISPUTE ITSELF. 
EXCERPTS FROM TODAY'S EDITORIALS: 
 
AL-NADWA 
-------- 
 
WE ARE QUITE CONFIDENT THAT THE KUWAITI AND IRAQI 
BROTHERS, WHO ARE WELL-KNOWN FOR THEIR CONSTRUCTIVE ROLES 
IN SEEING THE ISSUES OF THEIR NATION WILL NOT PERMIT THE 
CONSPIRATORS TO INTERFERE IN THE DISPUTES BETWEEN THE TWO 
COUNTRIES SO AS TO INFLATE SUCH A DISPUTE.  WE MUST 
UNDERLINE THAT ARAB NATION AS A WHOLE ATTACHES GREAT 
HOPES TO THE JEDDAH BROTHERLY MEETING.  THE ARAB NATION 
IS LOOKING FORWARD TO SEEING THE DISAPPEARANCE OF THE 
IRAQI-KUWAITI DISPUTE. 
 
AL-YAUM 
------- 
 
THE JEDDAH MEETING IS A PRACTICAL STEP FOR BYPASSING ALL 
DIFFERENCES BETWEEN THE TWO BROTHERS IRAQ AND KUWAIT. 
THIS STEP WILL DEFINITELY LEAD TO THE ACHIEVEMENT OF THE 
AMBITIONS OF THE ARAB LEADERS FOR KEEPING THE ARAB NATION 
AWAY FROM ANY DIFFERENCES THAT MIGHT IMPEDE THE PROCESS 
OF ARAB SOLIDARITY. 
 
AL-JAZEERA 
---------- 
 
HOSTING BY THE KINGDOM OF THE JEDDAH MEETING, AS SHEIKH 
ABDALLAH PUT IT, CONFIRMS THE PERMANENT INTEREST OF THE 
KINGDOM IN PLAYING ITS PIONEERING HISTORIC ROLE TO 
CONFRONT ALL ISSUES OF THE ARAB AND ISLAMIC NATIONS AND 
TO WORK SERIOUSLY FOR UNIFICATION OF THE WORD OF THIS 
NATION. 
 
AL-JAZEERA, JASSER AL-JASSER 
---------------------------- 
 
THE QUICK POSITIVE RESPONSE TO THE EFFORTS OF THE ARAB 
LEADERS FOR CONTAINMENT OF THE DISPUTE BETWEEN IRAQ AN 
KUWAIT POINTS OUT TWO FACTS: STRENGTH OF THE ARAB TIES 
AND CONFIDENCE OF THE ARAB NATION IN THE PRUDENCE OF ITS 
LEADERS. 
 
 
8.  AL-RIYADH DAILY QUOTED THE FOLLOWING COMMENTS FROM 
THE IRAQI AND KUWAITI NEWSPAPERS: 
 
AL-QABAS (KUWAIT) 
----------------- 
 
ALL SINCERE ARABS, IN THE FOREFRONT BEING THE PEOPLE OF 
KUWAIT, HOLD GREAT HOPE THAT THE JEDDAH MEETING WOULD BE 
THE MOTIVE FOR CONSOLIDATING THE BROTHERLY TIES BETWEEN 
IRAQ AND KUWAIT.  WE ARE CONFIDENT THAT THE WORLD WILL 
COME TO KNOW THAT OUR NATION IS CAPABLE OF WORKING OUT 
ITS PROBLEM BY ITSELF. 
 
AL-RAI AL-AAM (KUWAIT) 
---------------------- 
 
ALL EYES ARE SET ON JEDDAH HOPING FOR SUCCESS OF THE 
IRAQ-KUWAIT MEETING.  THE LATEST DEVELOPMENTS BETWEEN 
KUWAIT AND IRAQ WERE TRANSIENT AND WE ARE SURE THAT THE 
JEDDAH MEETING WILL BE A SUCCESSFUL ONE. 
 
AL-QADESEYA (IRAQ) 
------------------ 
 
IRAQ RESPONDED TO THE JEDDAH MEETING IN ORDER TO PRESERVE 
THE HIGHER ARAB INTERESTS AND IN APPRECIATION TO THE 
EFFORTS OF THE ARAB LEADERS.  THE PAPER POINTED OUT THAT 
THE MEETING BETWEEN IRAQ AND KUWAIT IS A CHANCE FOR 
LIQUIDATING THE DIFFERENCES AND BEEFING UP THE 
COOPERATION BETWEEN THE TWO COUNTRIES. 
 
 
9.  BBC ARABIC SERVICE REPORTED JULY 31 THAT IRAQI PRESS 
LAUNCHED A VEHEMENT CAMPAIGN AGAINST KUWAIT AND SAID 
AMONG OTHER THINGS THAT IRAQ'S INTERESTS ARE ABOVE ARAB 
SOLIDARITY. 
 
 
DUNFORD