KUWAIT SNUBBING ARAB LEAGUE MEETING

C O N F I D E N T I A L KUWAIT 001047 SIPDIS E.O. 12958: DECL: 03/23/2013 TAGS: PREL AL XF IZ KU SUBJECT: KUWAIT SNUBBING ARAB LEAGUE MEETING REF: SECSTATE 75616 Classified By: Ambassador Richard H. Jones, reasons 1.5 b and d. ¶1. (C) The Ambassador reviewed reftel demarche with Shaykh Dr. Ahmed Nasser al-Sabah, Office Director for Minister of State for Foreign Affairs Shaykh Dr. Mohammed al-Sabah, on the morning of March 23. Shaykh Ahmed informed the Ambassador that Dr. Mohammed would not be attending the March 24 Arab League foreign ministers' meeting. Kuwait would be represented instead by its Ambassador in Cairo. Nonetheless, Dr. Ahmed assured the Ambassador that Kuwait would work against efforts to condemn the US for the action in Iraq. However, he said, "we are only one country; we need support from others." He added that one of Kuwait's main objectives would be to get the Arab League to condemn Iraq for launching surface-to-surface missiles at Kuwait even though at the time no attack had been launched at it from Kuwaiti soil. ¶2. (C) COMMENT: Dr. Mohammed normally represents the GOK at such meetings. Sending the Kuwaiti Ambassador to Egypt in his stead is a clear signal of Kuwait's displeasure with the recent performance of the Arab League in general and of AL Secretary General Amr Moussa in particular. SIPDIS JONES