VZCZCXRO6859
PP RUEHBC RUEHDE RUEHKUK RUEHROV
DE RUEHKU #0566/01 1061413
ZNY CCCCC ZZH
P 161413Z APR 07
FM AMEMBASSY KUWAIT
TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC PRIORITY 8830
INFO RUEHEE/ARAB LEAGUE COLLECTIVE PRIORITY

C O N F I D E N T I A L SECTION 01 OF 03 KUWAIT 000566 
 
SIPDIS 
 
SIPDIS 
NOFORN 
 
STATE FOR NEA/ARP 
 
E.O. 12958: DECL: 04/16/2022 
TAGS: PGOV KDEM KU FREEDOM AGENDA NATIONAL ASSEMBLY
SUBJECT: AMIR'S ATTEMPT TO QUELL RULING FAMILY DISPUTES 
ONLY A TEMPORARY SOLUTION 
 
REF: A. KUWAIT 522 
     ¶B. 06 KUWAIT 4498 
     ¶C. 06 KUWAIT 4430 
 
Classified By: Charge d'Affairs Matt Tueller for reasons 1.4 (b) and (d 
) 
 
¶1.  (SBU) Summary and comment: In a rare meeting of senior 
Al-Sabah family members April 14, Amir Shaykh Sabah issued a 
strong warning not to air intra-ruling family rivalries in 
public via proxies and stressed that he had no intention to 
dissolve Parliament or amend the constitution.  The Crown 
Prince and Shaykh Salem Al-Ali, the most senior member of the 
other leading branch of the Al-Sabah family, also spoke, 
emphasizing their loyalty to the Amir and urging ruling 
family members to set aside their differences.  In a 
significant symbolic gesture, National Security Bureau 
President Shaykh Ahmed Al-Fahd, whose aspirations to the 
emirate many believe are at the heart of the divisions within 
the ruling family, kissed the head of Defense/Interior 
Minister Shaykh Jaber Al-Mubarak as a sign of reconciliation 
and respect.  Kuwaitis across the board praised the Amir's 
"clear and unequivocal" commitment to the constitution and 
denial of any plans to dissolve the Parliament. 
 
¶2.  (C/NF) Summary and comment (continued): The Amir's 
comments do little to resolve the underlying problems at the 
root of the internal ruling family rivalries: the weakness of 
the Crown Prince and Prime Minister and the ambitions of 
younger Shaykhs, particularly Shaykh Ahmed Al-Fahd.  Given 
the Amir's age and health problems, ambitious ruling family 
members are likely to continue to jockey to position 
themselves for one of the country's top leadership positions 
when Shaykh Sabah dies.  Some like Shaykh Ahmed Al-Fahd may 
feel this is their only shot at power, believing that further 
democratic reforms, if unchecked, could undermine the ruling 
family's dominant role in the decision-making process.  The 
Amir's denial of plans to dissolve Parliament or amend the 
constitution are similar to statements he made last fall and 
unlikely to be the final word on the subject. 
Parliamentarians and political leaders likely trumpeted the 
Amir's "commitment" to the constitution and denial of any 
intention to dissolve the Parliament to make it harder for 
him to do exactly that at some point in the future.  End 
summary and comment. 
 
¶3.  (SBU) Amir Shaykh Sabah called a rare meeting of nearly 
200 senior Al-Sabah family members April 14 in an attempt to 
control increasingly bitter and public intra-ruling family 
disputes.  The meeting comes amid rumors the Amir was 
considering dissolving Parliament unconstitutionally (i.e. 
for more than two months), and less than a week after veteran 
opposition MP Ahmed Al-Saadoun warned that the Al-Sabah 
regime would end if the constitution were amended, an 
unprecedented and highly controversial statement that has 
drawn considerable criticism from many Kuwaitis.  According 
to press reports, the Amir was very direct and issued a 
strong warning to family members not to air personal 
rivalries and disputes in public by attacking each other 
through proxies in newspapers or in diwaniyas.  He urged 
Al-Sabah family members to resolve their differences and set 
an example for the rest of Kuwait.  Shaykh Sabah told family 
members that if they had a problem they could go to the 
Family Council or the Crown Prince, and if they were still 
not happy "my doors are always open."  In addition, the Amir 
announced the formation of a committee to address ruling 
family problems. 
 
¶4.  (C/NF) The Amir also stressed that he had "no intention 
to amend the constitution" and had "never thought of 
dissolving the Parliament either constitutionally or 
unconstitutionally."  (Comment: According to numerous 
contacts, including one influential Al-Sabah (ref B), the 
Amir openly discussed the possibility of dissolving 
Parliament unconstitutionally in three separate meetings last 
November, including one with the Chamber of Commerce (ref C). 
 After strong public opposition to such a move, Shaykh Sabah 
told the Editors-in-Chief of Kuwait's top dailies that he had 
never considered an unconstitutional dissolution, an 
assertion no one dared contradict publicly.  End comment.) 
The Amir added that he had listened to a recording of 
Al-Saadoun's statements and agreed that they had been 
"distorted" by the press.  He said he "appreciated" 
Al-Saadoun's comments and took them as "advice."  "The 
problem is not in the constitution, but rather in you (ruling 
family members)...as all of you want to be ministers and 
fight, and shift your fights to the media," Shaykh Sabah 
concluded. 
 
 
KUWAIT 00000566  002 OF 003 
 
 
¶5.  (SBU) Crown Prince Shaykh Nawaf Al-Ahmed and Shaykh Salem 
Al-Ali Al-Salem, the Chief of the National Guard and the most 
senior member of the Al-Salem branch of the Al-Sabah family, 
also spoke at the meeting.  They emphasized their allegiance 
to the Amir and called for Al-Sabah family unity.  According 
to press reports, at the request of Deputy National Guard 
Chief Shaykh Mishal Al-Ahmed Al-Jaber, National Security 
Bureau President Shaykh Ahmed Al-Fahd kissed Defense/Interior 
Minister Shaykh Jaber Al-Mubarak on the forehead as a sign of 
reconciliation and great respect.  Many Kuwaitis believe the 
meeting was meant as a message to Shaykh Ahmed Al-Fahd, the 
former Minister of Energy and a close confidant of the 
Amir's, and other young, ambitious Al-Sabah family members 
whose jockeying for future leadership positions has divided 
the ruling family. 
 
The Frontlines in the Al-Sabah Power Struggle 
--------------------------------------------- 
 
¶6.  (C/NF) Ahmed Deyain, a well-connected political analyst 
and writer, told PolOffs April 4, prior to the ruling family 
meeting, that the source of the family's internal tensions 
was the battle being waged by Shaykh Ahmed Al-Fahd and his 
supporters, including Speaker of Parliament Jassem 
Al-Khorafi, Editor-in-Chief of Al-Watan (Arabic daily) 
Khalifa Ali Al-Khalifa, and to some extent the Amir, against 
Shaykh Jaber Al-Mubarak, Prime Minister Shaykh Nasser 
Mohammed, and Minister of Amiri Diwan Affairs Shaykh Nasser 
Sabah Al-Ahmed, the Amir's son.  According to Deyain, more 
than just future leadership positions are at stake.  He 
claimed the two groups differed fundamentally in their views 
on how the country should be governed.  Deyain, who clearly 
sides with the Prime Minister's camp, argued that Shaykh 
Ahmed Al-Fahd and those around him opposed democratic reform 
and wanted to weaken Parliament and continue to rule through 
patronage, as has traditionally been done in this tribal 
society.  Deyain said the Prime Minister, Shaykh Jaber 
Al-Mubarak, and Shaykh Nasser Sabah Al-Ahmed, on the other 
hand, believed in working with Parliament and within Kuwait's 
constitutional framework, and recognized that Kuwait's 
constitution was unique in that it enshrined the Al-Sabah's 
role in Kuwait's political system, a role they could lose if 
the constitution were tampered with, as Al-Saadoun argued. 
 
¶7.  (C/NF) Deyain believed tensions had risen to a "boiling 
point" recently due to the poor health of the Amir, which 
prompted "all those ambitious for power to move quickly (to 
secure their positions)."  (Comment: In an April 15 meeting 
with PolOff, prominent Shi'a businessman Anwar Bukhamseen 
said someone in the Amir's office told him that the Amir 
complained in a recent meeting that he was having problems 
with his prostate in addition to his heart problems.  End 
comment.)  Deyain said these tensions were exacerbated by the 
weakness of the Crown Prince and Prime Minister, and the 
Amir's "unprecedented centralization of decision-making 
authority."  He claimed, as have many other contacts, that 
Shaykh Ahmed Al-Fahd engineered the grilling of former 
Minister of Health Shaykh Ahmed Abdullah, which lead the 
entire Cabinet to resign, to undermine Shaykh Nasser 
Mohammed's government and prove the Cabinet could not 
function without him.  When the Cabinet resigned, Deyain said 
Shaykh Ahmed Al-Fahd lobbied hard (but unsuccessfully) to be 
appointed Minister of Interior, in part to weaken Shaykh 
Jaber Al-Mubarak and perhaps reinstate his brother Shaykh 
Athbi Al-Fahd, who was dismissed as Director of Kuwait State 
Security in November by Shaykh Jaber Al-Mubarak.  Deyain 
claimed Shaykh Ahmed Al-Fahd was also behind Al-Watan's 
"onslaught" against Shaykh Nasser Sabah Al-Ahmed, one of his 
main political rivals, over the past month.  On the Al-Sabah 
meeting, Deyain cautioned that words alone would not resolve 
the bitter disputes within the ruling family. 
 
Kuwaitis Praise Amir's Commitment to Constitution 
--------------------------------------------- ---- 
 
¶8.  (SBU) Kuwaitis across the board praised the Amir's "clear 
and unequivocal" commitment to the constitution and denial of 
any plans to dissolve the Parliament.  They also welcomed his 
efforts to settle disputes within the ruling family.  Speaker 
of Parliament Jassem Al-Khorafi reaffirmed the Kuwaiti 
people's loyalty to the Al-Sabah leadership and said the 
ruling family meeting demonstrated "the love, loyalty, and 
dedication...of the rulers to (the Kuwaiti) people," local 
press reported April 15.  MP Mohammed Jassem Al-Sager, the 
Chairman of Parliament's Foreign Affairs Committee, said the 
Amir's speech came at "the right time" and "underscored the 
deep-rootedness of the ruling regime and its democratic, 
contractual, and constitutional nature."  MP Mishari 
Al-Anjari said Shaykh Sabah's comments had "put an end to 
 
KUWAIT 00000566  003 OF 003 
 
 
rumors circulated occasionally on the unconstitutional 
dissolution of Parliament or the revision of the constitution 
in an unconstitutional manner."  Other MPs and political 
leaders expressed similar views and called on the ruling 
family to close its ranks for the unity and stability of the 
country. 
 
********************************************* * 
For more reporting from Embassy Kuwait, visit: 
http://www.state.sgov.gov/p/nea/kuwait/?cable s 
 
Visit Kuwait's Classified Website: 
http://www.state.sgov.gov/p/nea/kuwait/ 
********************************************* * 
Tueller