US embassy cable - 02KUWAIT5231

UNCLAS KUWAIT 005231 
 
SIPDIS 
 
SENSITIVE 
 
E.O. 12958:  DECL:  N/A 
TAGS: PREL, MOPS, US, KU 
SUBJECT: Erroneous GOK Press Statement Reqardinq Accident 
Near Bubiyan Island 
 
(U) SENSITIVE BUT UNCLASSIFIEO - PROTECT ACCORDINGLY. 
 
1. (SBU) This afternoon the Kuwaiti Ministry of Interior 
issued a press statement (text in paragraph 3 below) 
regarding a naval incident that took place near Bubiyan 
Island this morning in which one American and one Kuwait 
received minor injuries.  The MOI statement contains 
information that differs markedly from our understanding of 
the events. Specifically, the statement claims that the 
incident occurred near Warba Island (north of Bubiyan) and 
that a Kuwaiti vessel came under fire from an Iraqi vessel. 
Our understanding, based on information provided by a US 
military source, is that the incident actually occurred in 
the Khor as-Subiyah, west of Bubiyan, well inside Kuwaiti 
waters, that there was no (repeat no) Iraqi involvement at 
all and that no shots were fired. 
 
2. (SBU) According to our source, the incident was a simple 
accident.  Three Kuwaiti naval boats were taking some 
American Special Forces personnel to survey a possible 
future bed-down site on Bubiyan Island.  Two boats were in 
the lead with one behind.  For reasons unknown, the first 
two boats stopped.  The driver of the third was not paying 
close enough attention and ran into the back of one of the 
other boats.  In the collision two people were lightly 
injured, an American (who was medevaced to Camp Doha where 
he received 12 stitches for a laceration on his head) and a 
Kuwaiti (who received some broken bones). 
 
3. (SBU) Unfortunately, initial reports were considerably 
more alarming than this information and quickly spread into 
the media (at one point it was said that two people shot 
had been shot in the head).  Perhaps to dampen this kind of 
sensational reporting, the Ministry of Interior issued the 
following statement (informal embassy translation): 
 
BEGIN TEXT OF EMBASSY TRANSLATION OF MOI STATEMENT 
 
A security source at the Ministry of Interior stated that 
on the morning of Tuesday, December 3, 2002, while two 
coast guard boats were on a routine patrol in the Northern 
region, close to Warba island, when an Iraqi boat happened 
to be in the region and opened fire on them (two Kuwaiti 
coast guard boats).  No injuries resulted from the shooting 
except for the collision of the two Kuwaiti boats, which 
took place during the shooting.  This led to the very 
slight injury of one of the elements as a result of the 
collision. 
 
END TEXT 
 
4. (SBU) Embassy and CFLCC PAO's have spent the afternoon 
fending off press queries based on the MOI statement.  To 
this point we have declined to substantiate anything in the 
statement.  However, local press has also picked up the 
news that an American was involved (not mentioned in the 
MOI statement).  While we have not confirmed this, we 
believe that the US will have no choice but to acknowledge 
soon that an American was injured, albeit lightly, in the 
collision.  At this stage, we recommend Washington press 
guidance confirm an incident but decline to provide any 
details until we have a chance to look into the matter more 
fully with the GOK.  Above all, we should not suggest that 
we have any reason to believe that there is any Iraqi 
involvement at this time. 
 
5.  (SBU) PAO spoke with the chief military public affairs 
of the Kuwaiti Ministry of Defense this evening, who said 
that he had advised the Ministry of the Interior not to 
accuse the Iraqis of opening fire on the Kuwaiti vessels, 
but that his advice went unheeded.  PAO warned this contact 
that the story was being reported in the international 
media and had the potential of damaging Kuwait's 
credibility.  PAO urged this official, a general officer in 
the Kuwaiti military, to ask his colleagues in the Ministry 
of Interior to issue a new statement backing away from 
their original assertion of Iraqi involvement.  The contact 
told us that he would recommend to the MOI that they issue 
a new statement saying that the original reports of Iraqi 
gunfire might have been inaccurate. 
JONES