VZCZCXRO5976
OO RUEHDE
DE RUEHKU #3920/01 2741329
ZNY CCCCC ZZH
O 011329Z OCT 06
FM AMEMBASSY KUWAIT
TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC IMMEDIATE 6975
INFO RUEHZM/GULF COOPERATION COUNCIL COLLECTIVE PRIORITY
RUEKJCS/SECDEF WASHINGTON DC PRIORITY
RHEBAAA/DEPT OF ENERGY WASHDC PRIORITY
RUEATRS/DEPT OF TREASURY WASHDC PRIORITY

C O N F I D E N T I A L SECTION 01 OF 02 KUWAIT 003920 
 
SIPDIS 
 
NOFORN 
SIPDIS 
 
STATE FOR NEA/ARP, EB/ESC/TFS, TREASURY FOR KRISTEN HECHT, 
STATE PASS USTR FOR BURKHEAD 
 
E.O. 12958: DECL: 09/30/2011 
TAGS: ECON EPET KU PGOV PREL PTER KTFN
SUBJECT: AMBASSADOR RAISES TRADE, TERROR FINANCING, AND 
 
REFINERY INVESTMENT WITH AMIR'S ECONOMIC ADVISOR 
 
REF: A. KUWAIT 3751 
     ¶B. KUWAIT 3718 
 
Classified By: Ambassador Richard LeBaron for Reasons 1.4 (b) and (d) 
 
¶1.  (C) During a September 30 meeting with the Amir's 
Economic Advisor Dr. Yousef Al-Ebraheem, the Ambassador 
raised the following issues: 
 
-- Amir's Visit to Washington:  Al-Ebraheem told the 
Ambassador the Amir was very pleased with his early September 
visit to Washington and with his warm welcome by the 
President and USG officials.  He said the Amir was pleased 
that the U.S. had released two Kuwaiti detainees from 
Guantanamo immediately after the visit, although he certainly 
would have liked to see the other Kuwaitis transferred as 
well.  The Amir had found substantial common ground with the 
U.S. on Iraq. 
 
-- Free Trade and TIFA:  The Ambassador told Al-Ebraheem that 
the talks between the Kuwaiti and US delegations during the 
Trade and Investment Framework Agreement (TIFA) meetings on 
September 5 in Washington were substantive and useful. 
Despite the progress, however, the U.S. and Kuwait should be 
realistic about prospects for negotiations on a free trade 
agreement.  The TIFA would likely provide the framework for 
our trade dialogue for the foreseeable future.  Nevertheless, 
the Ambassador said the U.S. and Kuwait should continue to 
make progress in the coming months and maintain the momentum 
generated by the TIFA round.  Al-Ebraheem said he hoped 
Assistant USTR Donnelly would visit Kuwait in the near 
future.  He said the Council of Ministers may assign a 
cabinet-level sub-committee to give more weight and staff 
resources to the TIFA/FTA process. 
 
-- Terror Financing:  The Ambassador urged the GOK to 
continue efforts to curb terrorism financing through Kuwait 
charities.  While praising Kuwaiti banks for their efforts in 
tracking suspicious currency transactions, the Ambassador 
said the disposition of monies once outside of Kuwait 
remained a problem, as in the case of the Revival of the 
Islamic Heritage Society (RIHS), whose activities in 
Bangladesh, Albania, and Bosnia were of particular concern. 
 
-- Kuwaiti Refinery Investment:  Drawing on his conversation 
with CEO of Kuwait Petroleum Company (KPC) Hani Hussein on 
September 17 (Ref A), the Ambassador said we would welcome 
Kuwaiti investment in an oil refinery in the U.S.  The 
Ambassador hoped Hussein or other appropriate officials would 
accept Energy Secretary Bodman's invitation to visit 
Washington this fall to explore ideas further.  Al-Ebraheem 
said he had heard some misgivings about the locations under 
consideration but said he would encourage the KPC visit. 
 
-- Project Kuwait:  The Ambassador said he had heard a great 
deal of skepticism about prospects for Project Kuwait 
the $8.5 billion project for international companies to 
develop Kuwait's northern oil fields (Ref B).  What were the 
prospects for parliamentary consideration?   Al-Ebraheem said 
prospects were indeed mixed, but with the government's 
majority in parliament, it was not impossible.  Pushing it 
forward would be tough, he said, since the media and some 
opposition elements would speak against it.  But "rational 
people," Al-Ebraheem said, believe we need the project as 
soon as possible, and see this period as a window of 
opportunity to make progress.  The Ambassador stressed the 
project would need to be profitable in order to generate 
investor interest. 
 
-------- 
Bio Note 
-------- 
 
¶2.  (SBU) Dr. Yousef Hamad Al-Ebraheem became the Economic 
Advisor to Shaykh Sabah Al-Ahmed Al-Sabah in 2003, when the 
current Amir was Prime Minister.  Dr. Al-Ebraheem served 
previously as Minister of Finance, Minister of Planning, and 
Minister of Education.  He received a Ph.D. in Economics from 
Claremont Graduate School in 1984 and was a visiting scholar 
in the Economics Department at Stanford from 1988-89.  At 
various times in his career, Dr. Al-Ebraheem has served as 
Chairman of the Board of the Kuwait Investment Authority, the 
Kuwait Fund, and the Public Institute for Social Security. 
He has taught economics at Kuwait University and was the 
University's Dean of Administrative Sciences from 1995-1999. 
 
KUWAIT 00003920  002 OF 002 
 
 
Dr. Al-Ebraheem was also posted to the Kuwait Embassy in 
Washington, D.C,. where he served as Cultural Counselor from 
1993-1995. 
 
 
******************************************** 
For more Embassy Kuwait reporting, see: 
http://www.state.sgov.gov/p/nea/kuwait/?cable s 
 
Or Visit Embassy Kuwait's Classified Website: 
http://www.state.sgov.gov/p/nea/kuwait/ 
******************************************** 
LeBaron