Identifier
Created
Classification
Origin
03KUWAIT3101
2003-07-13 15:07:00
CONFIDENTIAL
Embassy Kuwait
Cable title:  

AMIR APPOINTS SHEIKH SABAH AS PRIME MINISTER

Tags:  PREL KU 
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This record is a partial extract of the original cable. The full text of the original cable is not available.
C O N F I D E N T I A L SECTION 01 OF 02 KUWAIT 003101 

SIPDIS

STATE FOR NEA/ARP

E.O. 12958: DECL: 07/12/2013
TAGS: PREL KU
SUBJECT: AMIR APPOINTS SHEIKH SABAH AS PRIME MINISTER


Classified By: Ambassador Richard H. Jones for reasons 1.5 (b) and (d)

C O N F I D E N T I A L SECTION 01 OF 02 KUWAIT 003101

SIPDIS

STATE FOR NEA/ARP

E.O. 12958: DECL: 07/12/2013
TAGS: PREL KU
SUBJECT: AMIR APPOINTS SHEIKH SABAH AS PRIME MINISTER


Classified By: Ambassador Richard H. Jones for reasons 1.5 (b) and (d)


1. (C) Summary: On July 13, the Amir issued a decree
formally naming Sheikh Sabah al-Ahmed al-Sabah Prime Minister
of Kuwait. This ended a behind-the-scenes row between the
two leading branches of the Kuwaiti ruling al-Sabah family
over the job, a position traditionally reserved for the Crown
Prince. The disagreement over the Prime Minister post had
dragged on for several days, causing some local observers to
worry that it might delay the July 19 inaugural session of
the newly elected National Assembly. The appointment of
Sheikh Sabah, which had been widely expected before the
delay, paves the way for the formation of a new cabinet.
However, it may also have opened the door to future
squabbling between the Salim and Jabir lines of the al-Sabah
family over the future of the Crown Prince. The current
Crown Prince, Sheikh Saad al-Abdullah al-Sabah, is mentally
and physically incapable of fulfilling his duties, and many
believe he should step down. End Summary.


2. (C) After days of rampant speculation, the Amir appointed
Sheikh Sabah al-Ahmed al-Sabah Prime Minister on July 13, the
first time the position has ever been entrusted to someone
other than the Crown Prince. The decision by the Amir came
after a tumultuous episode in which the leading Jabir and
Salim branches of the ruling Sabah family engaged in a
struggle behind the scenes for control of the office of Prime
Minister, and possibly, future control of the office of Crown
Prince.

"GO BACK TO YOUR CAMELS"


3. (C) On July 12, a noted Kuwaiti cultural contact who is a
close friend with a grandson of First Deputy Prime Minister
(and acting head of government) Sheikh Sabah al-Ahmed told
acting DCM of a dramatic showdown in Kuwait's ruling family
over the issue of whether the Amir would issue an expected
decree transferring the office of prime minister from the
ailing Crown Prince to Sheikh Sabah. According to this
contact, Sheikh Sabah's grandson told him that the al-Salim
branch of the family was strongly resisting the proposed
transfer of the premiership to Sheikh Sabah, who like the
Amir comes from the al-Jaber branch of the ruling al Sabah
family. Directed by the Amir to work out the issue with the
al-Salim's, Sheikh Sabah met on July 10 with Sheikh Salem

al-Ali, the head of the Kuwaiti National Guard and the senior
member of the al-Salim branch, to discuss moving the
premiership from the Crown Prince to Sheikh Sabah.


4. (C) The meeting, according to our contact, did not go
well. Sheikh Salim is alleged to have told Sheikh Sabah that
the latter should talk to the Crown Prince about whether he
would agree to surrender the premiership, to which Sheikh
Sabah replied that he had already received three different
answers from the Crown Prince on the subject: that the CP
would agree with transferring the premiership to Sheikh
Sabah; that the CP would agree provided that his own son,
Sheikh Fahd, became deputy prime minister; and that the CP
would not agree to transfer the position at all. (NOTE: Our
contact said that the grandson described the Crown Prince as
weaving in and out of lucidity in his conversations, often
engaging an interlocutor with apparently full comprehension
before lapsing into a confused state and asking "Who are
you?" and "Whose house is this?" END NOTE) Sheikh Sabah then
asked Sheikh Salim if he would support his bid to become PM,
and the latter refused. Sheikh Sabah is then said to have
asked Sheikh Salem if he understood the constitution of
Kuwait, and when Sheikh Salim said that he did not, Sheikh
Sabah told him "then go back to your camels" before storming
out of the meeting.


5. (C) Our contact said that the al-Salim family members then
offered a compromise to Sheikh Sabah, wherein he would become
prime minister but the al-Salim would appoint his cabinet.
Sheikh Sabah is alleged to have refused this offer and to
have announced that if he was not made prime minister within
the week, he would resign his position and leave the country.



6. (C) According to our contact, negotiations then ensued
within the family to find a solution that would accord Sheikh
Sabah the premiership with full prerogatives while reassuring
the al-Salim that they are not being cut out of power.
Evidently, these negotiations have now succeeded, but the
exact nature of any deals struck remains to be seen.


7. (C) Comment: Kuwaiti Arabic dailies had been predicting
for days that an Amiri decree separating the office of prime
minister from that of Crown Prince and transferring it to
Sheikh Sabah was imminent. However, that the al-Salim's
should inveigh against the proposed separation of the
premiership from their ailing kinsman should not be a
surprise to anyone familiar with Kuwait's idiosyncratic
tradition of dynastic succession, in which two branches of
the same family have alternated as Amir and Crown Prince
since the death of Mubarak the Great in 1915. To the
al-Salim--already overmatched by the more numerous and better
positioned al-Jaber progeny--any abridgement of the Crown
Prince's long-standing prerogatives could be interpreted as a
step on the way to the ultimate removal of the Crown Prince
himself. If protocol can be used as a guide, it appears that
al-Salim fears may in fact be realized; the Ministry of
Foreign Affairs has instructed post that Shaykh Sabah should
now be addressed as His Highness. Further evidence will be
provided by the cabinet appointments which should be
announced within the nwxt 48 to 72 hours. The fate of such
Sheikh Saad stalwarts as Minister of Interior Mohammed Khaled
al-Sabah in the new government will be instructive.
JONES