NEW ROYAL COURT MINISTER ON KUWAIT, SAUDI ARABIA,

S E C R E T SECTION 01 OF 02 AMMAN 007449

SIPDIS

E.O. 12958: DECL: 11/16/2013
TAGS: PREL ETTC ETRD EAID IZ JO
SUBJECT: NEW ROYAL COURT MINISTER ON KUWAIT, SAUDI ARABIA,
PALACE REORGANIZATION

REF: A. KUWAIT 5183

B. AMMAN 7297

Classified By: Amb. Edward W. Gnehm for reasons 1.5 (b) (d)

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SUMMARY
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1. (C) New Royal Court Minister Samir Rifai told the
Ambassador that, on his recent trip to the Gulf, the King had
thanked the Kuwaitis for providing Jordan with free oil and
had expressed the hope that it continue for a while longer,
but neither sought nor received a commitment. PM Fayez will
return to Kuwait to discuss details in the near future. The
Kuwaitis had expressed worry about Saudi Arabia, and Rifai
said he sensed some acceptance in the region for the recent
Riyadh bombing, because of popular frustration with the lack
of progress in the peace process and the association of the
Saudi regime with the U.S. and U.S. support for Israel.
Rifai also described his planned reorganization of the Palace
to add more substance and independence to Palace offices.
However, the economic unit will be cut back because the King
finally trusts the economic team in the new cabinet. END
SUMMARY.

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RELATIONS WITH KUWAIT, SAUDI ARABIA
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2. (C) The new Minister of the Royal Hashemite Court, Samir
Rifai, told the Ambassador and PolCouns November 12 that King
Abdullah's November 11 visit to Kuwait had gone well (ref a).
The King had expressed thanks for Kuwait's provision of oil,
and had mentioned delicately that it would be very helpful
for Jordan if the oil continued for a while longer. The King
and the Kuwaitis did not discuss any specifics, and Prime
Minister Faisal al-Fayez will travel to Kuwait soon to follow
up and try to get a firm Kuwaiti commitment. On
atmospherics, Rifai said he got the impression that the
Kuwaitis "really do like" King Abdullah, despite the rift
with King Hussein after the Iraqi invasion of Kuwait. He
said that the Kuwaitis had expressed great concern with the
situation in Saudi Arabia and the latest Riyadh bombing.


3. (C) The King, Rifai continued, had spoken to Saudi Crown
Prince Abdullah after the Riyadh bombing, but had learned
little about the situation: "the Saudis don't like to share
much," he quipped. Rifai said that, sadly, there seemed to
be some acceptance of the bombings in the street across the
region, since the attack was aimed at the Saudi regime, which
is close to the U.S., which supports Israel, which continues
to occupy Palestinian land. "There will have to be movement
on the Palestine issue," he argued, "for people to see these
kinds of attacks as completely unwarranted."

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PALACE REORGANIZING TO ADD MORE SUBSTANCE
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4. (S) Rifai also described the broad outlines of a planned
reorganization of the Palace structure. The planned changes,
he said, would rationalize support for the royal family and
communication with "the people." Rifai hoped the
reorganization would give the King "an independent source of
information and advice," and increase the amount of substance
in the work of Palace offices. (NOTE: An outgoing senior
Palace official told PolCouns recently that the King and
Palace staff were not entirely comfortable with the rosy
reports they received from the General Intelligence
Directorate (GID) on internal issues. For this reason, he
said, the Palace had contracted independently for several
opinion polls on sensitive topics, especially the efficiency
and fairness of provision of government services. END NOTE.)



5. (C) Rifai noted that -- bucking this general trend --
the Palace economic unit would become smaller because "the
King now has his economic team in place" in the cabinet and a
large Palace unit is not necessary. Rifai said that the King
is comfortable with the new government "because he doesn't
have to convince anyone of his program." The personal
dynamics in the cabinet and in the initial Aqaba retreat
meeting have been good, with ministers actually discussing
their programs, not spouting platitudes. Rifai said that PM
Fayez was undertaking a "complete restructuring" of the Prime
Ministry to streamline cabinet meetings ("we'll keep the
sublime and get rid of the ridiculous") and delegate
significant decision-making authority to the cabinet itself.
PM Fayez, he argued, is the man for this job. He is easy
going, has no agenda other than the King's, "and is not
interested in grabbing power."


6. (U) Separately, the Palace announced November 16 that,
as part of the Palace reorganization, the King had abolished
the position of Chief of the Royal Court (distinct from
Rifai's position as Minister of the Royal Hashemite Court)
and appointing the incumbent, Yousef Dalabih as an advisor to
the King. The King also appointed Yousef Hassan Eissawi as
acting Secretary General of the Palace (chief management
officer),the job Rifai held before his appointment as
Minister of the Court.

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COMMENT
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7. (C) Like his father, former PM and current Senate
President Zaid Rifai, Samir Rifai holds his cards close to
the chest and gives away little. Rifai, educated at
Deerfield Academy, Harvard, and Cambridge, speaks excellent
colloquial English with a touch of sarcasm. He has moved
into a position of great responsibility close to the King,
and seems to have his confidence.

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http://www.state.sgov.gov/p/nea/amman/

or access the site through the State Department's SIPRNET
home page.
GNEHM