US embassy cable - 03KUWAIT3101

C O N F I D E N T I A L SECTION 01 OF 02 KUWAIT 003101 
 
SIPDIS 
 
STATE FOR NEA/ARP 
 
E.O. 12958: DECL: 07/12/2013 
TAGS: PREL, KU 
SUBJECT: AMIR APPOINTS SHEIKH SABAH AS PRIME MINISTER 
 
 
Classified By: Ambassador Richard H. Jones for reasons 1.5 (b) and (d) 
 
1. (C) Summary:  On July 13, the Amir issued a decree 
formally naming Sheikh Sabah al-Ahmed al-Sabah Prime Minister 
of Kuwait.  This ended a behind-the-scenes row between the 
two leading branches of the Kuwaiti ruling al-Sabah family 
over the job, a position traditionally reserved for the Crown 
Prince.  The disagreement over the Prime Minister post had 
dragged on for several days, causing some local observers to 
worry that it might delay the July 19 inaugural session of 
the newly elected National Assembly.  The appointment of 
Sheikh Sabah, which had been widely expected before the 
delay, paves the way for the formation of a new cabinet. 
However, it may also have opened the door to future 
squabbling between the Salim and Jabir lines of the al-Sabah 
family over the future of the Crown Prince.  The current 
Crown Prince, Sheikh Saad al-Abdullah al-Sabah, is mentally 
and physically incapable of fulfilling his duties, and many 
believe he should step down.  End Summary. 
 
2. (C) After days of rampant speculation, the Amir appointed 
Sheikh Sabah al-Ahmed al-Sabah Prime Minister on July 13, the 
first time the position has ever been entrusted to someone 
other than the Crown Prince.  The decision by the Amir came 
after a tumultuous episode in which the leading Jabir and 
Salim branches of the ruling Sabah family engaged in a 
struggle behind the scenes for control of the office of Prime 
Minister, and possibly, future control of the office of Crown 
Prince. 
 
"GO BACK TO YOUR CAMELS" 
 
3. (C) On July 12, a noted Kuwaiti cultural contact who is a 
close friend with a grandson of First Deputy Prime Minister 
(and acting head of government) Sheikh Sabah al-Ahmed told 
acting DCM of a dramatic showdown in Kuwait's ruling family 
over the issue of whether the Amir would issue an expected 
decree transferring the office of prime minister from the 
ailing Crown Prince to Sheikh Sabah.  According to this 
contact, Sheikh Sabah's grandson told him that the al-Salim 
branch of the family was strongly resisting the proposed 
transfer of the premiership to Sheikh Sabah, who like the 
Amir comes from the al-Jaber branch of the ruling al Sabah 
family.  Directed by the Amir to work out the issue with the 
al-Salim's, Sheikh Sabah met on July 10 with Sheikh Salem 
al-Ali, the head of the Kuwaiti National Guard and the senior 
member of the al-Salim branch, to discuss moving the 
premiership from the Crown Prince to Sheikh Sabah. 
 
4. (C) The meeting, according to our contact, did not go 
well.  Sheikh Salim is alleged to have told Sheikh Sabah that 
the latter should talk to the Crown Prince about whether he 
would agree to surrender the premiership, to which Sheikh 
Sabah replied that he had already received three different 
answers from the Crown Prince on the subject: that the CP 
would agree with transferring the premiership to Sheikh 
Sabah; that the CP would agree provided that his own son, 
Sheikh Fahd, became deputy prime minister; and that the CP 
would not agree to transfer the position at all.  (NOTE: Our 
contact said that the grandson described the Crown Prince as 
weaving in and out of lucidity in his conversations, often 
engaging an interlocutor with apparently full comprehension 
before lapsing into a confused state and asking "Who are 
you?" and "Whose house is this?" END NOTE)  Sheikh Sabah then 
asked Sheikh Salim if he would support his bid to become PM, 
and the latter refused.  Sheikh Sabah is then said to have 
asked Sheikh Salem if he understood the constitution of 
Kuwait, and when Sheikh Salim said that he did not, Sheikh 
Sabah told him "then go back to your camels" before storming 
out of the meeting. 
 
5. (C) Our contact said that the al-Salim family members then 
offered a compromise to Sheikh Sabah, wherein he would become 
prime minister but the al-Salim would appoint his cabinet. 
Sheikh Sabah is alleged to have refused this offer and to 
have announced that if he was not made prime minister within 
the week, he would resign his position and leave the country. 
 
 
6. (C) According to our contact, negotiations then ensued 
within the family to find a solution that would accord Sheikh 
Sabah the premiership with full prerogatives while reassuring 
the al-Salim that they are not being cut out of power. 
Evidently, these negotiations have now succeeded, but the 
exact nature of any deals struck remains to be seen. 
 
7. (C) Comment: Kuwaiti Arabic dailies had been predicting 
for days that an Amiri decree separating the office of prime 
minister from that of Crown Prince and transferring it to 
Sheikh Sabah was imminent.  However, that the al-Salim's 
should inveigh against the proposed separation of the 
premiership from their ailing kinsman should not be a 
surprise to anyone familiar with Kuwait's idiosyncratic 
tradition of dynastic succession, in which two branches of 
the same family have alternated as Amir and Crown Prince 
since the death of Mubarak the Great in 1915.  To the 
al-Salim--already overmatched by the more numerous and better 
positioned al-Jaber progeny--any abridgement of the Crown 
Prince's long-standing prerogatives could be interpreted as a 
step on the way to the ultimate removal of the Crown Prince 
himself.  If protocol can be used as a guide, it appears that 
al-Salim fears may in fact be realized; the Ministry of 
Foreign Affairs has instructed post that Shaykh Sabah should 
now be addressed as His Highness.  Further evidence will be 
provided by the cabinet appointments which should be 
announced within the nwxt 48 to 72 hours.  The fate of such 
Sheikh Saad stalwarts as Minister of Interior Mohammed Khaled 
al-Sabah in the new government will be instructive. 
JONES