This record is a partial extract of the original cable. The full text of the original cable is not available.

C O N F I D E N T I A L SECTION 01 OF 05 KUWAIT 002931 
 
SIPDIS 
 
FOR NEA/ARPI, LONDON FOR GOLDRICH 
 
E.O. 12958: DECL: 06/25/2015 
TAGS: PREL PGOV PHUM KWMN KU
SUBJECT: PDAS CHENEY IN KUWAIT:  WOMEN'S POLITICAL RIGHTS, 
ECONOMIC REFORM, IRAQ, AND IRAN 
 
REF: A. KUWAIT 2831 
     ¶B. KUWAIT 2759 
     ¶C. KUWAIT 2730 
     ¶D. KUWAIT 2606 
 
Classified By: Ambassador Richard LeBaron for reasons 1.4(b) and (d) 
 
¶1.  (C)  During her June 25 visit to Kuwait, NEA Principal 
Deputy Assistant Secretary Cheney congratulated Kuwait's 
first female minister, Dr. Ma'souma Al-Mubarak, on her 
appointment and discussed with her the political reforms and 
education needed to help Kuwaiti women enter the political 
arena and run for national office in 2007.  Dr. Ma'souma, as 
well as MP Mohammed Al-Sager, cited electoral redistricting 
as key to women's political success.  Dr. Ma'souma and FM 
Shaykh Dr. Mohammed rejected a quota for women in the 
National Assembly as anathema to Kuwait's democratic history. 
 The FM restated GOK support for Iraq, and he and Al-Sager 
called for Syria to end its destabilizing practices.  Both 
also expressed concern about the election of Mahmoud 
Ahmadinejad in Iran.  Economic Advisor to the PM Yousef 
Al-Ebrahim said the GOK was working on the conditions 
necessary to proceed to the next round of TIFA talks.  PDAS 
Cheney lauded the May 16 decision granting women full 
political rights and subsequent appointments of several women 
to key leadership positions.  She encouraged further 
political reform and offered U.S. support and assistance in 
preparing women for participation in the 2007 elections.  She 
pressed Kuwait to stay the course on economic reform and 
clarified that the TIFA discussions and eventual FTA are 
based on economic criteria.  She restated U.S. support for 
Iraq's political development and expressed concern about the 
role Syria is playing in supporting terrorist activities in 
Iraq, Lebanon, and the Palestinian territories.  On Iran, 
PDAS Cheney said the election of Ahmadinejad did not reflect 
the true will of the Iranian people.  PDAS Cheney also 
commended the strong, supportive relations between the U.S. 
and Kuwait and welcomed more exchange programs and visits by 
Kuwaiti officials.  In a full day of meetings that garnered 
substantial press coverage, PDAS Cheney met with women 
activists at two separate events about the struggle for full 
political rights and the conditions necessary to ensure women 
exercise these rights, as well high school students in the 
YES exchange program who offered their views on forging 
stronger ties with Kuwaiti youth  (septel).  End Summary. 
 
 
Women's Voting Rights: A Good Start But More Reform Needed 
--------------------------------------------- ------------- 
 
¶2.  (C)  Recently appointed Minister of Planning and 
Administrative Development Dr. Ma'souma Al-Mubarak opened her 
June 25 meeting with Principal Deputy Assistant Secretary 
Cheney by crediting her time in the states as a student in 
the 70's and 80's for launching her career as an activist. 
She noted that both she and Secretary Rice received their 
doctorates from the University of Denver.  She described the 
struggle of Kuwaiti women to gain their full political rights 
as a "marathon" and said the May 16 decision granting those 
rights was a historic day.  That Parliament passed the bill 
through the democratic process legitimized the decision, 
making it much more important and giving it greater weight. 
She called her appointment and the naming of two women to the 
Municipal Council a good start, but said it was not enough. 
Stating, "Some MPs are not ready for the change," she said 
her focus was on the 2007 parliamentary elections and Kuwait 
would need U.S. support and assistance in order for women to 
be elected.  She said Kuwaiti women needed to learn from 
Americans how to campaign and she hoped the delegation of 
five women ( Lulwa Al-Mulla, Amal Al-Khaled, Dr. Nada Suliman 
Al-Mutawa, Dr. Nibal Bourisly, and Araoob Al-Refa'e) 
traveling to the U.S. o/a June 29 and the Prime Minister's 
July 1 visit would be the start of the educational process. 
 
Women In Parliament:  Redistricting Preferable To Quotas 
--------------------------------------------- ----------- 
 
¶3.  (C)  Commenting on the electoral process, Dr. Ma'souma 
said a quota system was not viable and the GOK would be 
likely to consider setting aside a certain number of seats 
for women as undemocratic.  She said Kuwaiti women had a lot 
of work ahead of them, but was optimistic they could make 
political advances.  She said Kuwait was more open than other 
Gulf societies and it would be possible for women to campaign 
in mixed settings.  She cited as the real challenge getting 
both men and women to support female candidates.  She said 
there needed to be a change in the mind-set and believed her 
role as the first woman minister would pave the way.  She 
commented that the greater obstacle to women being elected to 
Parliament was the current configuration of electoral 
districts.  Currently there are 25 electoral districts, may 
of which are very small, facilitating vote-buying and giving 
greater strength to tribal ties.  Dr. Ma'souma supported 
reducing the number of districts to five. 
¶4.  (C)  Like Dr. Ma'souma, Foreign Minister Shaykh Dr. 
Mohammed Al-Sabah Al-Salem Al-Sabah called a quota system for 
women's political participation "alien to Kuwaiti culture." 
He said the notion of quotas was considered in 1962 when the 
constitution was promulgated in order to promote equal 
participation among college graduates, workers, and farmers 
(as had been done in the Egyptian parliament), but in the 
end, the GOK decided one man - one vote.  Kuwait also 
rejected setting aside certain ministerial posts for members 
of the ruling family.  He said the key to changing the 
political landscape was the registration of women voters. 
 
¶5.  (C)  Liberal MP and Chair of the Foreign Affairs 
Committee, Mohammed Jassem Al-Sager, whom the PDAS met later 
in the day, agreed on the need for electoral reform.  He said 
there would be no real change in Parliament until districts 
had at least 40,000 voters.  He said the current small size 
(his district has 6,500 registered voters) made it easy to 
buy votes.  He claimed a candidate could purchase 1,000 votes 
with 500,000 KD ($1.7 Million).  In addition to 
redistricting, he called for the formation of political 
parties, and passage of a new law permitting anyone to print 
a newspaper.  He cautioned, however, that these reforms would 
have little impact while there was in-fighting within the 
Al-Sabah family over succession.  This prevented development 
of a clear vision for Kuwait and weakened the GOK in front of 
the Islamists and other conservative blocs. 
 
Women Will Change the Nature of Kuwaiti Politics 
--------------------------------------------- --- 
 
¶6.  (C)  Responding to PDAS Cheney's question about GOK 
promotion of women's political participation, Planning Under 
Secretary Sara Al-Diwisan, who accompanied Dr. Ma'souma, said 
 
SIPDIS 
the Ministry was working on a five-year sustainable 
development plan for Kuwait.  She said Kuwaiti women 
represented 50.9 percent of the population and pursued 
advanced degrees at a greater rate than men.  These two 
factors would have a significant influence on elections and 
the GOK was examining how to factor these trends into 
planning at the public and private levels.  Dr. Ma'souma 
added that a committee led by Shaykha Latifa Fahad Al-Salem 
Al-Sabah, wife of Crown Prince Shaykh Saad, and reporting to 
the Council of Ministers was charged with laying the 
groundwork for women to participate in the 2007 elections. 
She said the GOK was solidly behind the women's movement and 
she was "inspired by its support."  She reported that Kuwaiti 
NGOs were strengthening ties with international organizations 
and NGO and GOK representatives would meet with the UNDP on 
preparing women to participate in the next parliamentary 
elections.  She asserted, "Kuwaiti women will not just be 
trained, we will practice politics in Parliament." 
 
¶7.  (C)  In a separate meeting, senior Economic Advisor to 
the Prime Minister Dr. Yousef Al-Ebrahim said women's 
political participation would change the nature of the issues 
to be debated in Parliament.  He predicted a greater focus on 
principles and said although Islamists would likely benefit 
in the 2007 elections, he did not anticipate any continuing 
opposition from them on women's suffrage in general.  He 
discounted their objection to Dr. Ma'souma's appointment, 
maintaining that the constitutional process was followed. 
(Note:  Some Islamist MPs objected to the appointment of Dr. 
Ma'souma arguing that ministers had to be registered voters. 
Women will join the electoral roles in February 2006. 
Several ministers, including the FM and PM, countered that as 
members of the ruling family, they are not registered to 
vote.  (ref b).  End Note.)  He further critiqued several 
Islamist MPs -- Nasser Al-Sane, Ali Al-Deqbasi, Ali 
Al-Khalaf, Fahad Al-Khanna, Mohammed as Busairi, and Waleed 
Al-Tabtabaie -- for lauding the political change before 
British PM Blair at the European Parliament recently.  These 
very MPs had voted against the bill.  Al-Sager also 
criticized the behavior of his fellow parliamentarians. 
 
¶8.  (C)  PDAS Cheney congratulated Dr. Ma'souma, the FM, 
Al-Sager, and Al-Ebrahim on the historic achievements, said 
Kuwaiti women served as an example to others in the Middle 
East, and offered U.S. assistance in preparing for the 2007 
elections.  She identified communications, polling, and 
campaigning as areas of American expertise and said the U.S. 
was particularly interested in supporting activities where 
Kuwaiti women could interact with other politically active 
women in the region.  She also noted that many members of 
Congress were interested in meeting their Kuwaiti 
counterparts and women activists.  PDAS Cheney stressed 
empowering women was a U.S. priority and said she looked 
forward to continued close cooperation on these matters. 
 
GOK Determined to Hold Round 2 Of TIFA Talks 
-------------------------------------------- 
¶9.  (C)  PDAS Cheney continued the reform discussion, 
focusing on ongoing TIFA talks, with senior economic Advisor 
to the Prime Minister Dr. Yousef Al-Ebrahim.  Al-Ebrahim 
reported the GOK was closely following the progress of the 
Central American FTA in the Senate.  He said the GOK was 
committed to free trade with the U.S., but did not imagine 
that conclusion of an agreement would have a significant 
short-term, economic impact on Kuwait.  He noted concern that 
some Kuwaiti industries -- banking and insurance -- would be 
adversely affected by the agreement, but argued that its 
import was largely in strengthening overall bilateral ties 
with the U.S.  He questioned the U.S. focus on IPR as a key 
to TIFA progress, citing the easy availability of counterfeit 
products on the sidewalks of New York and Washington.  He 
said the GOK did not want IPR to be an obstacle to a second 
round of talks and was working hard to combat IPR violations. 
 He reported that the new labor law was with the Council of 
Ministers and while the GOK wanted to proceed quickly with 
the necessary groundwork for the next round of talks, the 
process would be protracted because the GOK, unlike other GCC 
countries, had a legislative process to follow which 
prohibited GOK leadership from making snap changes to laws. 
 
¶10.  (C)  PDAS Cheney replied that the TIFA requirements in 
anticipation of an FTA actually helped governments to explain 
the process to parliaments.  It was important that the GOK be 
able to explain the FTA to those who oppose it and to 
articulate the benefits of such agreements.  She emphasized 
that the agreements were based on economic, not political 
criteria, and reiterated that progress was needed on IPR as 
well as TIP issues in order to proceed.  She further informed 
Al-Ebrahim of the President's commitment to a Middle East 
Free Trade Area and restated the U.S. commitment to working 
with Kuwait. 
 
Iraq 
---- 
 
¶11.  (C)  FM Shaykh Dr. Mohammed opened his discussion with 
PDAS Cheney with a review of the U.S.-EU International 
Conference on Iraq.  He said the gathering was an opportunity 
to galvanize international support for Iraq and was pleased 
that attendees talked about the political process and not 
war.  He was also pleased that the Iraqi Transitional 
Government (ITG) had a chance to share its views in an 
international forum.  He reported that GOK used the 
conference to reaffirm its support to Iraq:  $565 million in 
reconstruction assistance, of which $125 million would be 
provided as grants and the balance in long-term soft loans 
(ref a).  Of this amount, the GOK has already spent $5 
million in Najaf.  Shaykh Dr. Mohammed said the ITG requested 
additional projects in southern Iraq, but the GOK did not 
want to be "characterized as working only in the south."  The 
FM also expressed interest in working with other donors on 
development projects.  He reported that following the Madrid 
conference, the GOK was ready to work with others on power 
plant projects and bemoaned the lack of progress.  The 
Ambassador advised the FM that the ITG Minister of Planning 
had the lead on donor coordination and encouraged the GOK to 
contact his office. 
 
¶12.  (C)  PDAS Cheney briefed the FM on ITG PM Ibrahim 
Al-Jaafari's meeting with the President and solicited the 
FM's views on Syria's role in the insurgency in Iraq and 
instability in the region.  Shaykh Dr. Mohammed reported that 
during his June 18-19 visit to Kuwait, Al-Jaafari raised the 
need for better control of the Iraqi-Syrian border, and said 
he intended to visit Damascus.  He added the Syrian 
delegation in Brussels said it was working to strengthen 
border security and announced President Bashar Al-Asad and a 
delegation would travel to Baghdad.  For its part, the GOK 
has cautioned Syria and was advised the GOS and ITG were 
coordinating efforts and Damascus would follow Baghdad's 
lead.  The Minister was pleased to hear that Barham Salih had 
taken up this role. 
 
¶13.  (C)  MP Al-Sager told PDAS Cheney he supported the 
liberation of Iraq but strongly believed the U.S. made a 
mistake in planning for it.  He said more effort should have 
been made to consult Turkey, Syria, and even Iran.  He said 
Iraq and Syria had the same type of regime and fueling 
Syria's current destabilizing behavior is a fear that it was 
next on the U.S. list.  PDAS Cheney disagreed that overtures 
to Syria would have made a difference and chastised Syrian 
support for terrorists and its role in Iraq, Lebanon, and 
Palestinian areas.  Al-Sager opined that Al-Asad, if he could 
get away from the old guard, would be different. 
Iran:  Out Of Step With the Rest of the Region 
--------------------------------------------- - 
 
¶14.  (C)  Responding to Shaykh Dr. Mohammed's request for 
U.S. views on elections in Iran, PDAS Cheney replied that the 
success of former Mayor of Tehran Mahmoud Ahmadinejad did not 
reflect the will of the vast majority of the Iranian people. 
She noted that the American -- and international -- 
expectations for Iran to live up to its obligations would 
remain unchanged.  She observed that Iran remained out of 
step with the region.  The U.S. remained deeply concerned 
about Iranian support to terror organization, including 
Hezbollah.  At the same time, it was clear that the Iranian 
people wanted better relations with the rest of the world and 
the U.S. supported them.  The FM proffered there was room for 
change if Ahmadinejad carried out his campaign promises.  By 
opening a dialogue with the west, he could be the "Menachem 
Begin of Iran," but since his direction was not yet clear, he 
could end up being the "Kim Jung Il of Iran."  Shaykh Dr. 
Mohammed said Khatemi and Rafsanjani both played 
indispensable roles in preventing complete upheaval in Iran, 
but the GOI now needed to make a choice.  ITG PM Al-Jaafari's 
statement that Iraq would remain close to the U.S. even in 
event of some sort of military engagement with Iran was 
carried widely in the region and sent a clear signal about 
Iran's isolation.  MP Al-Sager called Iran a danger and said 
the election results were a good thing because "we can now 
see the ugly face of Iran" and predicted the situation would 
worsen before it improved. 
 
¶15.  (C)  Turning to other regional issues, Al-Sager asked 
the PDAS for a response to accusations the U.S. is 
interfering in Lebanon.  PDAS Cheney advised Al-Sager that 
the U.S. seeks to be supportive of the new Lebanese 
government, is working on an international conference to 
provide support to a new Lebanon, and at the same time 
sending a clear message to Syria which has withdrawn 
military, but not intelligence forces from Lebanon.  Al-Sager 
supported recent developments in Lebanon and while he 
condemned the assassination of Rafiq Hariri, commented that 
the tragedy sparked rapid, positive change in Lebanon. 
 
The U.S. and Kuwait 
------------------- 
 
¶16.  (SBU)  Al-Sager told the PDAS the majority of Kuwaitis 
are pro-American and remain grateful to the U.S. for 
liberating Kuwait from Iraq, although many feel as if the 
U.S., focused primarily on Iraq, has ignored them for the 
past six years.  He recommended a broader bilateral dialogue, 
increased exchange programs and more senior-level visits to 
Kuwait.  He said he understood U.S. politics and knew the 
Administration had to factor in Congress, the media, and 
special interests groups when developing its policies. 
Kuwait, therefore, had an obligation to help the 
Administration justify its continued presence in the region 
and assistance to Kuwait and it could do so by opening up 
society, promoting respect for human rights, and encouraging 
economic liberalization. 
 
¶17.  (SBU)  Al-Ebrahim and his assistant, Sara Al-Musallam, 
commented that the views of Kuwaiti youth on the U.S. are 
colored by the Israeli-Palestinian conflict.  One way to 
address such biases is through educational and other exchange 
programs.  Both were supportive of the MEPI Junior 
Achievement program being developed for Kuwait and welcomed 
other projects to motivate and challenge Kuwaiti youth. 
Al-Ebrahim said Kuwait did not need U.S. aid, but rather its 
organizational expertise. 
 
PM Visit To Washington 
---------------------- 
 
¶18.  (C)  Shaykh Dr. Mohammed said Prime Minister Shaykh 
Sabah Al-Ahmed Al-Jaber Al-Sabah hoped his July 1 visit to 
the U.S. would be the start of an "annual ritual."  He 
stressed the close relations between the U.S. and Kuwait and 
opined that regular visits facilitated the exchange of views. 
 He reported the PM's agenda for this visit included next 
steps for Iraq, the peace process and the expansion of the 
quartet, the Global War on Terror, economic reform, and 
trafficking in persons (septel).  PDAS Cheney welcomed 
regular visits by GOK officials and said U.S. officials 
looked forward to meeting with the PM.  She provided an 
update on peace process issues and reaffirmed U.S. 
engagement. 
 
¶19.  (U)  PDAS Cheney cleared this message. 
 
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