VZCZCXRO1555
PP RUEHBC RUEHDA RUEHDE RUEHIHL RUEHKUK RUEHMOS
DE RUEHKU #0255/01 0251320
ZNR UUUUU ZZH
P 251320Z JAN 06
FM AMEMBASSY KUWAIT
TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC PRIORITY 2668
INFO RUCNRAQ/IRAQ COLLECTIVE PRIORITY
RUEATRS/DEPT OF TREASURY WASHDC PRIORITY

UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 03 KUWAIT 000255 
 
SIPDIS 
 
SENSITIVE 
SIPDIS 
 
STATE FOR H -- B. FLECK AND FOR NEA/ARPI 
 
E.O. 12958: N/A 
TAGS: OVIP PGOV KWMN IZ IR KU KUWAIT IRAQ RELATIONS
TERROR FINANCE, WOMEN'S POLITICAL RIGHTS 
SUBJECT: CODEL ROS-LEHTINEN ENGAGES KUWAITIS ON IRAQ, IRAN, 
TERRORIST FINANCING, AND WOMEN'S RIGHTS 
 
REF: STATE 2860 
 
¶1.  (SBU) Summary: During a January 20-21 visit to Kuwait, 
CODEL Ros-Lehtinen met with Kuwaiti officials to offer 
condolences on the death of Amir Shaykh Jaber Al-Sabah, and 
to express USG appreciation for Kuwaiti support for Operation 
Iraqi Freedom (OIF) and for Kuwait's $500 million pledge to 
hurricane Katrina relief.  The delegation also had the 
opportunity to hear from Kuwaitis on Iraq, Iran, terrorism 
financing, and women's political rights.  The delegation was 
accompanied by a reporter/producer from C-SPAN who was 
recording a two-hour, "reality-style" special on the trip to 
be aired "six to seven times" in February. 
 
¶2.  (SBU) Summary continued: Dr. Nasser Al-Sane, a moderate 
Islamist member of Parliament (MP), told the delegation 
"Iraqi Sunni leaders were not optimistic" and had complained 
during a recent visit to Kuwait of being excluded from the 
political process.  In a separate meeting, Kuwaiti Ambassador 
to the U.S. Shaykh Salem Al-Abdullah told the delegation that 
"failure (in Iraq) was a matter of life or death" for Kuwait, 
and cautioned against letting a timetable dictate the Iraqi 
political process.  Shaykh Salem said the Government of 
Kuwait (GOK) was also "extremely worried" about Iran's 
nuclear program, though he focused on the potential for 
negative environmental impacts rather than on security 
concerns.  The delegation also met with a group of women 
activists to discuss women's rights in Kuwait and the likely 
impact of the female vote in the 2007 parliamentary 
elections.  The women were pessimistic about female 
candidates' chances of being elected, but expressed optimism 
about the long-term impact of women's participation in 
Kuwaiti politics.  The event was covered by Arabic-daily 
Al-Watan in its January 22 issue.  The Ambassador stressed 
the importance of programs to promote study in the U.S. 
during a dinner with the delegation.  End summary. 
 
CODEL Ros-Lehtinen Participants 
------------------------------- 
 
¶3.  (U) The delegation was led by U.S. Congresswoman Ileana 
Ros-Lehtinen (R-FL), Chairwoman of the House International 
Relations Committee Subcommittee on the Middle East and Asia. 
 Accompanying the Chairwoman were U.S. Congressman Todd 
Russell Platts (R-PA), U.S. Congressman Stephen P. Lynch 
(D-MA), and U.S. Congressman Jim Gerlach (R-PA). 
 
Success in Iraq "A Matter of Life or Death" for Kuwait 
--------------------------------------------- --------- 
 
¶4.  (SBU) Dr. Nasser Al-Sane, a moderate Islamist member of 
Parliament (MP) affiliated with the Islamic Constitutional 
Movement (ICM), told the delegation he had met with "Iraqi 
Sunni leaders," in town to offer condolences on the death of 
Amir Shaykh Jaber Al-Sabah, who had insisted they wanted to 
work within the democratic system, but were "not at all 
optimistic" about the potential for political compromise 
among Iraq's diverse ethnic and confessional groups. 
According to Al-Sane, Iraqi Sunnis "recognized their mistake" 
in boycotting the January 2005 elections, but felt 
marginalized by Shi'a domination of political power and 
feared Iranian influence among Iraqi Shi'a groups.  Al-Sane 
himself claimed Iran was more influential in Iraq than the 
U.S. 
 
¶5.  (SBU) Kuwaiti Ambassador to the U.S. Shaykh Salem 
Abdullah Al-Jaber Al-Sabah stressed that "failure in Iraq is 
not an option," during a separate meeting to receive the 
delegation's condolences to the Al-Sabah family on the death 
of Amir Shaykh Jaber Al-Sabah.  "Your success in Iraq is a 
matter of life and death for us.  Failure would be a global 
catastrophe," he said.  Emphasizing that the U.S. "is on - 
and should stay on - the right political and security track," 
Shaykh Salem cautioned the Representatives from letting a 
timetable dictate the political process.  He argued that 
internal divisions were a greater threat to Iraq and, 
subsequently, the region than "foreign fighters." 
 
¶6.  (SBU) Chairwoman Ros-Lehtinen asked if "failure was not 
an option," then why was the GCC not more supportive of Iraqi 
reconstruction efforts.  Shaykh Salem noted Kuwait's support 
for post-Saddam Iraq, including lobbying for Iraq's 
re-inclusion in the Arab League, but said security was a 
necessary precondition for reconstruction efforts.  He 
assured the delegation that the GCC collectively would be 
heavily involved in assistance projects once the security 
situation stabilized. 
 
KUWAIT 00000255  002 OF 003 
 
 
 
"Extremely Worried" About Iran's Nuclear Program 
--------------------------------------------- --- 
 
¶7.  (SBU) Asked about the GOK's views on Iran's nuclear 
program, Shaykh Salem said that, regardless of Iranian 
intentions, "we are extremely worried" about the possibility 
of an accident at the Bushehr nuclear facility, echoing the 
GOK's commonly heard proclivity to approach the nuclear issue 
from an environmental rather than a security standpoint.  He 
said Bushehr was only 120 miles from Kuwait compared to 800 
miles from Tehran and was situated on a fault line.  Shaykh 
Salem stressed that "the diplomatic track should be 
exhausted" before any other decision was taken.  "The U.S. 
and Kuwait see eye-to-eye on this issue," he said, noting 
that there had been a "convergence of views" during the Vice 
President's recent visit to Kuwait. 
 
Islamic Charities Unfairly Targeted? 
------------------------------------ 
 
¶8.  (SBU) Al-Sane complained that some Islamic charity 
organizations, like the Kuwait-based Social Reform Society 
(SRS), the charity arm of the Muslim Brotherhood in Kuwait, 
were unfairly designated as financiers of terrorism and 
prevented from charitable work because fund raising 
activities were limited by strict regulations.  He asked the 
Representatives to review the procedures for the designations 
and regulations.  Al-Sane stressed that SRS was a purely 
charitable organization and assured the delegation that he 
had personally overseen an inspection of the organization's 
finances, which proved there were no terrorist connections. 
Al-Sane said he had raised the issue with the Treasury 
Department during a trip to Washington in 2005, but 
complained he had not received a reply from Treasury.  The 
Representatives promised to follow up on the issue with 
Treasury officials.  Chairwoman Ros-Lehtinen noted that some 
charity organizations do divert funds to terrorist 
organizations and that restrictions on certain fundraising 
activities can unfortunately have an adverse affect on 
legitimate charities. 
 
Women's Activists Not Optimistic About 2007 Elections 
--------------------------------------------- -------- 
 
¶9.  (SBU) Fifteen of Kuwait's leading women activists, 
including several who intend to run in the 2007 parliamentary 
elections, participated in a lively roundtable discussion 
with the delegation on women's political rights in Kuwait and 
speculated on the likely impact of the female vote.  While 
agreeing that Kuwaiti women were subject to discrimination, 
the women activists disagreed on whether general social 
attitudes or the political influence of Islamists was more to 
blame.  Dr. Nibal Al-Boursly,  a professor at Kuwait 
University, stressed the difference between religious 
conservatism and the politicization of religion, which she 
believed was the real problem.  Dr. Rola Dashti, an outspoken 
activist and a candidate in the 2007 elections, also argued 
that gender discrimination in Kuwait was linked to politics. 
Dashti claimed women's salaries were 30% less than men's and 
80% of unemployed Kuwaitis were women. 
 
¶10.  (SBU) Most of the women agreed that a reduction in the 
number of electoral districts from 25 to 10, or even fewer, 
would greatly increase female candidates' chances of being 
elected.  Dr. Farida Al-Habib, a prominent cardiologist, 
argued that without a reduction women would not be elected to 
Parliament in 2007.  The majority of the activists believed 
the female vote would benefit Islamist groups, and predicted 
women would not be elected in the 2007 parliamentary 
elections.  Some, however, were more optimistic.  Dashti 
predicted 70% of registered women would vote, 12 female 
candidates would run for election, and three would be elected. 
 
¶11.  (U) The women also eulogized the late Amir Shaykh 
Jaber's contribution to women's rights.  Congressman Platts 
stressed that the way women could honor the late Amir was to 
exercise the political rights Shaykh Jaber had fought so hard 
to help them obtain.  One of attendees, Aisha Al-Rasheed, 
wrote a long article on the event that was published in the 
January 22 edition of the Arabic-daily Al-Watan. 
 
¶12.  (U) In a separate meeting with the delegation, Jassem 
Al-Boodai, the Editor-in-Chief of Al-Rai Al-Rai, a liberal 
Arabic-daily with wide distribution in the Gulf and Lebanon, 
echoed the women activists' concerns, arguing that Islamists 
groups would benefit most from the female vote.  He also 
 
KUWAIT 00000255  003 OF 003 
 
 
questioned the USG's commitment to promoting political and 
economic reform in the region.  The Representatives 
emphasized the USG's willingness to partner with domestic 
groups to promote democratic reforms, but stressed that 
democratic change must come from within.  Due to the current 
leadership controversy, the newspaper has not yet published 
an article on the meeting. 
 
Ambassador Encourages Hill Support for Study in the U.S. 
--------------------------------------------- ----------- 
 
¶13.  (SBU) During a dinner with the delegation, the 
Ambassador noted the declining number of Kuwaiti students 
studying at American universities and stressed the importance 
of Congressional support for student exchange programs.  He 
also emphasized the need for more efforts to engage and 
integrate foreign exchange students into university campuses, 
noting these students will be the next generation of leaders 
in the Middle East.  Public Affairs Counselor stressed the 
need for support for Fulbright and other educational 
scholarship programs to encourage foreign students to study 
in the U.S.  She also highlighted the success of Middle East 
Partnership Initiative (MEPI)-funded programs and emphasized 
the importance of additional funding. 
 
¶14. (U) The Representatives did not have the opportunity to 
clear on this cable. 
 
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