US embassy cable - 03KUWAIT1293

C O N F I D E N T I A L KUWAIT 001293 
 
SIPDIS 
 
E.O. 12958: DECL: 04/07/2013 
TAGS: PREL, EAID, KPAL, US, IS, KU 
SUBJECT: KUWAITI CONCERNS ON MEETING ITS AID PLEDGE TO PA 
 
REF: A. SECSTATE 85451 
 
     B. KUWAIT 1283 
 
Classified By: Ambassador Richard H. Jones, reasons 1.5 b and d. 
 
1.  (C) The Ambassador discussed the issue of Kuwaiti support 
for the Palestinian Authority (ref A) with Shaykh Dr. Ahmed 
Nasser al-Sabah, the Head of Office for Minister of State for 
Foreign Affairs Shaykh Dr. Mohammed al-Sabah, the morning of 
April 6.  (Dr. Mohammed was unavailable due to a last-minute 
Council of Ministers meeting prior to his departure for his 
tour of P-5 capitals, ref B.)  Drawing on ref A talking 
points, the Ambassador explained the situation to Shaykh 
Ahmed in detail and pointed out that Dr. Mohammed should be 
prepared to respond on this issue in his meetings in 
Washington. 
 
2.  (C) Dr. Ahmed thanked the Ambassador for reviewing the 
issue with him.  He confided that the "real" reason that the 
GOK was hesitating to transfer money to the Palestinian 
Authority recently had nothing to do with Arafat or any other 
"personal" issues.  The GOK understood the need to support 
the PA and reform efforts at this critical time regardless of 
such animosities.  He argued that in fact, the GOK had 
transferred money to the Palestinians plenty of times in the 
past when their relations with Arafat were worse than they 
are now.  No, according to Dr. Ahmed, the actual reason for 
their reluctance was a fear that the Israelis would find a 
way to seize or at least freeze any funds they provided for 
the PA. 
 
3.  (C) The Ambassador said that he understood the history 
that might lead to such fears but reiterated that the US had 
made good progress in this area recently.  The Israelis were 
now releasing tax revenues to the PA on schedule.  Dr. Ahmed 
said that if this was the case, and the US could guarantee 
that the Israelis would not seize/freeze the funds, Kuwait 
would seriously consider making good on its AL pledge.  This 
is the answer Dr. Mohammed would give if/when the issue was 
raised with him in Washington. 
 
4.  (C) COMMENT: While somewhat encouraging, Dr. Ahmed's 
response falls well short of a commitment.  Indeed, the 
Kuwaiti position may be intended to put the ball back into 
our court indefinitely, figuring that it will be impossible 
for us to provide the requested guarantee.  Our skepticism 
arises from past discussions with Dr. Mohammed on this topic. 
 Once before when urged that the GOK meet its Arab League 
pledges to the Palestinians, he responded wryly that he found 
it interesting that the US was trying to enforce AL 
resolutions. 
JONES