US embassy cable - 05KUWAIT3974

C O N F I D E N T I A L KUWAIT 003974 
 
SIPDIS 
 
FOR NEA/ARPI AND PRM/MCE; GENEVA FOR CAMPBELL AND CASSIDY 
 
E.O. 12958: DECL: 09/06/2015 
TAGS: PREL, PHUM, PREF, KU, ICRC 
SUBJECT: SWISS AMBASSADOR MAKING ROUNDS ON MAGEN DAVID ADOM 
MEMBERSHIP; SEEKS U.S. ASSISTANCE IN KUWAIT AND QATAR 
 
REF: A. KUWAIT 3720 (NOTAL) 
 
     B. STATE 149915 
     C. KUWAIT 3023 (NOTAL) 
     D. KUWAIT 2728 (NOTAL) 
     E. KUWAIT 942 (NOTAL) 
 
Classified By: Ambassador Richard LeBaron for reasons 1.4(b) and (d) 
 
1.  (C)  Swiss Ambassador to Kuwait, Qatar, and Bahrain, 
Jean-Phillipe Tissieres, called on the Ambassador on 
September 7 to brief him on Swiss plans to secure support 
from Arab and Muslim states for the September 11 
consultations in Geneva, and the subsequent October 
conference, on adopting the Third Additional Protocol to the 
Geneva Conventions to facilitate entry of the Magen David 
Adom (MDA) society into the Red Cross/Crescent Movement.  In 
the absence of the Foreign Minister and Under Secretary, he 
said he would meet later in the day with International 
Organizations Department Director Abdullah Al-Murad to press 
for GOK approval of a new emblem.  (Comment:  In separate 
meetings with the Ambassador and PolChief, Al-Murad feigned 
ignorance about the status of MDA with regard to Red 
Cross/Crescent membership.  End Comment.)  Tissieres said the 
GOS was convinced that a majority of countries favored 
adopting a new emblem, but they hid behind the Arab League, 
the Organization of the Islamic Conference, and the Gulf 
Cooperation Council so that they would not have to stake out 
an independent position.  He told the Ambassador that most 
Arab and Muslim states have not/not directly opposed the 
initiative and the GOS hoped the consultative conference 
would force them to clarify their positions, commenting, "We 
want to trap them."  He further explained he was calling on 
MFA officials in Kuwait and Qatar as capitals that had been 
more supportive of the conferences and emblem change than 
have their missions in Geneva and New York.  He would also 
encourage the ministries to issue appropriate instructions to 
their delegations.  He said that inconsistencies between 
capitals and missions on the issue compelled him to "get out 
of the wood" and actively engage the Kuwaitis and Qataris. 
 
2.  (C)  Tissieres added that the Arab-Muslim argument that 
it was not a good time to discuss emblem changes was weak. 
He said there was never a good time and opined that had the 
contracting parties waited for the right time, the Red 
Cross/Crescent would not now exist.  He said he would argue 
the merits of the emblem change, focus on the goals of the 
Red Cross/Crescent Movement, and try to avoid Arab-Israeli 
political issues.  (Note:  Tissieres offered his personal 
criticism of the emblem stalemate saying the real problem 
stemmed from the Ottoman Empire decision to permit use of the 
crescent, which politicized and added religious overtones to 
what was intended to be a neutral, secular body.  Had the red 
cross, the reverse of the Swiss flag, remained the sole 
symbol of the humanitarian movement, countries would not seek 
to add national or religious insignia.  End Note.)  He told 
the Ambassador he would remind the Gulf states that the Red 
Cross/Crescent Movement was not an organization of countries, 
but rather of contracting parties, and lack of participation 
in the September and October meetings would not halt progress 
if the majority of attendees supported adopting the protocol. 
 
3.  (C)  In response to Tissieres' request that the U.S. 
approach the GOK on the September and October conferences, 
but without giving the appearance of U.S.-Swiss 
collaboration, the Ambassador advised him of the demarches 
delivered (reftels) and the active role the U.S. has played. 
 
4.  (C)  Comment:  Tissieres is off to a late start and his 
efforts are unlikely to prompt the GOK to take a visible, 
independent position on the Third Additional Protocol.  End 
Comment. 
 
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LEBARON