US embassy cable - 05KUWAIT4590

UNCLAS KUWAIT 004590 
 
SIPDIS 
 
SIPDIS 
 
E.O. 12958: N/A 
TAGS: PHUM, PGOV, KIRF, KU 
SUBJECT: GOK GRANTS MELKITE CATHOLICS LAND FOR NEW CHURCH; 
COPTS YET TO BREAK GROUND 
 
REF: KUWAIT 807 
 
1. Summary: Long-time church ally Shaykha Fareeha announced 
the GOK's decision to grant 6,500 square meters to the Greek 
Catholics (Melkites) for the construction of a new church. 
They currently worship in a rented home whose owner just 
raised the rent 21%. According to Father Boutros Gharib, 
receiving the land signals official GOK recognition of the 
Melkites, making them the fifth fully sanctioned Christian 
church in Kuwait. Meanwhile, an ongoing zoning dispute has 
delayed the construction of a new facility for the Coptic 
Orthodox Church despite receiving a plot of land in 2003. End 
summary. 
 
2. PolOff met with Father Boutros Gharib of the Greek 
Catholic (Melkite) Church October 24 to learn of the latest 
developments since the GOK's decision to grant land for the 
construction of a new church. Gharib and church board members 
told the DCM October 4 that long-time ally Shaykha Fareeha, 
the Amir's sister, fulfilled her promise to secure land for 
the Melkites (reftel). Gharib attributed the announcement to 
the Shaykha who personally championed their cause. (Note: 
Ambassador sent a request to the Amiri Diwan October 9 
requesting GOK assistance in facilitating bureaucratic 
approvals. End note.) The approximately 2,000 Melkites 
currently worship beyond capacity in a rented home converted 
into a church, rectory and reception hall. The announcement 
came at the Melkites' September 29 celebration commemorating 
the 55th anniversary of their presence in Kuwait. 
 
3. The new church would be located in Mishref although a 
specific plot has not been designated. Gharib shared that the 
Melkites had initially requested land in the more centrally 
located Salmiya district. The GOK told them, however, that 
the largest available parcel was only 1,500 square meters, 
insufficient for the church's needs. Gharib reported that 
their landlord, a Shi'a with whom they have had a difficult 
relationship, notified him October 23 that the rent would 
increase 21% from 1,200KD ($4,104) to 1,450KD ($4,959) per 
month effective November. The cleric lamented that the 
already exorbitant rent now rose to an "unbelievable and 
unheard of" level. (Note: These figures do not appear high to 
us for this market. End note.) 
 
4. According to Gharib, the gift of the land signifies that 
the GOK now officially recognizes the Melkites, a move that 
would permit the church to display exterior religious symbols 
such as a cross and the congregation's name on the new 
facility. Their current location in Salwa has no visible 
indications of its use as a house of worship. If Gharib's 
assessment is correct, the Melkites would join the ranks of 
four other fully recognized Christian denominations in 
Kuwait: Anglican, Coptic Orthodox, National Evangelical 
(Protestant) and Roman Catholic. Gharib projects that the 
Melkites could open their new church as early as 2007. 
 
5. In 2003, the GOK granted the Coptic Orthodox Church 6,500 
square meters in Hawally to build a church large enough to 
accommodate the estimated 65,000 primarily Egyptian 
parishioners in Kuwait. To date, however, an unresolved 
zoning dispute with the Municipality of Kuwait dating back to 
July has delayed the Copts' ground breaking. Municipality 
members, responding to objections from the Islamist 
"Foundations of the Nation" assembly, contend that the 
Municipal Council inappropriately approved the land grant 
despite opposition from the Ministry of Interior and of Awqaf 
and Islamic Affairs. 
 
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LEBARON