US embassy cable - 05KUWAIT3585

C O N F I D E N T I A L KUWAIT 003585 
 
SIPDIS 
 
NEA/FO FOR AMONSARRAT 
 
E.O. 12958: DECL: 08/10/2015 
TAGS: EAID, EFIN, PREL, KU, WE, GZ 
SUBJECT: KUWAIT RESPONSE: ARAB COUNTRY ASSISTANCE TO THE 
PALESTINIAN AUTHORITY 
 
REF: SECSTATE 146261 
 
Classified By: Ambassador Richard LeBaron for reason 1.4 (b) 
 
1.  (C) Ambassador met with Minister of Foreign Affairs 
Shaykh Dr. Mohammad Al-Sabah on August 9 and asked for reftel 
data on Kuwaiti aid to the Palestinian Authority.  The FM 
promised to provide the figures, but said that any future aid 
would have to be taken up by the Council of Ministers.  (The 
Minister directed us to the new Office of Economic Affairs in 
the Ministry, but it is not yet up and running.  Our normal 
MFA interlocutor on Palestinian aid, Under Secretary Khalid 
Jarallah, is out of the country until September.) 
 
2.  (C) Kuwait Fund for Arab Economic Development (KFAED) 
Acting Manager of the Palestinian Authority portfolio 
Abdullah Al-Musaibih told Econ Officer on August 9 that the 
GOK provided $25 million to the Palestinian Authority in 2000 
as part of the peace process.  This money was supposed to go 
towards health and education projects, and was given to the 
Arab Fund for Economic and Social Development (AFESD).  No 
other project assistance has been provided by Kuwait to the 
PA in the past five years.  (Note: KFAED officials have told 
us in the past that, under the direction of the GOK, it does 
not deal directly with the PA but provides aid through 
institutions such as the AFESD. End Note.)  KFAED is 
primarily in the business of making soft loans, not grants, 
and Al-Musaibih said that the PA had recently applied for 
loans from KFAED.  He said that KFAED staff would have to 
approach the Board of Directors about the loan applications, 
and he did not expect an answer "anytime soon."  He was not 
aware of any projects or grants from the GOK planned to 
coincide with Israeli withdrawal from Gaza or the West Bank. 
 
3.  (C) According to Al-Musaibih, KFAED only handles loans 
and grants and does not deal with any budget assistance.  He 
said that this would be handled directly by the GOK, and 
suggested contacting the Ministry of Finance.  The Minister 
of Finance's Office Director, Ahmed Al-Quwaynum, spoke with 
the Minister of Finance on August 10 and told Econ Officer 
that, according to the Minister, all GOK aid to the PA goes 
through the KFAED, and to contact KFAED Director of 
Operations Mr. Fawzi Al-Hunaif. 
 
4. (C)  From what we can re-construct from previous email 
exchanges regarding Kuwait's Arab League "commitments," $49 
million was transferred to the PA before the Algiers AL 
Summit, bringing Kuwait's obligation to $140 million.  We 
have not been able to verify payments since.  (Note: The PA 
may be a better source of current info.) 
 
5.  (SBU) Comment: The Minister of Finance, Bader 
Al-Humaidhi, was previously Director General of KFAED  for 
almost twenty years and is intimately familiar with KFAED 
operations.  Al-Hunaif is out of the country on vacation, as 
is KFAED Deputy Director General for Disbursement, Hisham 
Al-Waqayan, and the person normally responsible for the PA 
portfolio, Marwan Al-Ghanim.  The office staff of Abdulwahab 
Al-Bader, the new KFAED Director General, suggested trying to 
get this information from him when he returns from a trip to 
Bahrain on August 14.  Our ability to get straight answers to 
these questions in a timely manner is severely impacted by 
the absence of key officials.  End Comment. 
 
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Visit Embassy Kuwait's Classified Website: 
http://www.state.sgov.gov/p/nea/kuwait/ 
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LEBARON