VZCZCXRO6176
PP RUEHDE RUEHDIR
DE RUEHKU #0030/01 0071600
ZNY CCCCC ZZH
P 071600Z JAN 08
FM AMEMBASSY KUWAIT
TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC PRIORITY 0539
INFO RUEHZM/GULF COOPERATION COUNCIL COLLECTIVE PRIORITY
RHEHNSC/NSC WASHDC PRIORITY
RUEKJCS/SECDEF WASHINGTON DC PRIORITY
RHEHAAA/WHITE HOUSE WASHDC PRIORITY

C O N F I D E N T I A L SECTION 01 OF 02 KUWAIT 000030 
 
SIPDIS 
 
SIPDIS 
 
E.O. 12958: DECL: 2017 
TAGS: PREL PGOV KU PHUM KDRG PTER
SUBJECT: KUWAITI FATHER PLEADS FOR HIS SON'S RELEASE FROM 
GTMO 
 
Classified By: A/DCM Lenderking for reasons 1.4 b and d 
 
Summary and Comment 
-------------------- 
 
¶1.  (C) An open letter appeared in the January 7 Kuwait Times 
that contained a personal plea to President Bush for the 
release of the author's son, Fawzi (AKA Fouzi Khalid Abdullah 
Al-Awdah-ISN 232) from GTMO.  The letter is well-crafted and 
rational as opposed to the usual diatribes on GTMO that 
appear in the press.  In the last few weeks, in the run-up to 
the January 11-12 POTUS visit, Post has witnessed an increase 
in the number of articles related to GTMO, and we anticipate 
that the issue of the four remaining Kuwaiti GTMO detainees 
will remain a central concern for Kuwaitis prior to and 
during the POTUS visit.  End Summary and Comment. 
 
¶2.  (C) The author, Khalid Al Odah (Al-Awdah), is Chairman of 
the Guantanamo Detainee Association, an NGO that lobbies the 
GOK for the release of Kuwaiti detainees held in GTMO.  He is 
not a regular columnist, but occasionally writes articles to 
raise the awareness of his son's long-term detention at GTMO. 
  According to the deputy editor at Kuwait Times, Al Odah 
submitted the below op-ed to coincide with the POTUS visit. 
 
Please Send Our Sons Home 
-------------------------- 
 
¶3.  (U) Begin Text: 
Kuwait Times 
7 January, 2008 
 
Please Send Our Sons Home 
By: Khalid Al Odah 
 
I last saw my son Fawzi in the fall of 2001 when he left to 
teach at a school in Afghanistan.  After bounty hunters 
captured him during the American invasion in Afghanistan in 
2002, he was flown to the US Naval Base in Guantanamo Bay, 
Cuba.  Six years later, he remains imprisoned there without 
any charges against him. 
 
At first, there were 12 Kuwaitis in Guantanamo Bay.  In 2005 
and 2006, the United States returned eight of them to Kuwait, 
where that country's courts charged, tried and cleared them 
of any wrongdoing.  They are now home with their families, 
rebuilding their lives. 
 
Yet, despite the best efforts of our government, Fawzi and 
three other Kuwaitis remain imprisoned.  All that I and other 
families are asking for is a fair trial before an impartial 
judge, either in the United States or in Kuwait, to determine 
whether Fawzi and the three other Kuwaitis should be 
imprisoned.  But the Bush administration has fought to 
prevent Fawzi or any other Guantanamo prisoner from having 
such a hearing.  Why doesn't the United States trust its own 
courts?  We do, and we are willing to abide by the results of 
the legal process. 
 
In addition, we have made every effort to obtain justice for 
the remaining detainees.  The Amir of Kuwait has met 
personally with President Bush to request their return. 
Senior Kuwaiti officials have repeated this request to their 
US counterparts.  US Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice has 
said Guantanamo Bay could close once countries provide 
assurances that returned prisoners would not endanger public 
safety.  Kuwait has made and honored these assurances. 
Moreover, it's especially important to remember that Kuwait 
has been a great ally to the United States and a steadfast 
friend of the American people.  We have been providing 
critical support for the Iraq War and other armed conflicts 
in the Gulf region before that.  When I was a young pilot in 
the Kuwaiti Air Force, I spent two years in Texas, learning 
about America, its principles and its institutions.  I 
developed a love and respect for the US system of justice 
which was founded on the belief that all people are innocent 
until proven guilty. 
 
Mr. President, Kuwait and its people have done everything 
America has asked of them.  We have remained faithful as an 
ally to the United States and as a friend to the American 
people, taking seriously our commitment to work with your 
administration to help protect our world from those who lack 
respect for the rule of law.  Therefore, Mr. President, it's 
time to trust the State of Kuwait as your faithful ally and 
to return my son and the other three Kuwaitis to face justice 
in their own country.  Please send Fawzi and the other 
Kuwaitis home now. 
 
 
KUWAIT 00000030  002 OF 002 
 
 
End Text. 
 
********************************************* * 
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/ 
********************************************* * 
MISENHEIMER