KUWAITI REACTIONS TO THE NOMINATION OF RICHARD

UNCLAS KUWAIT 001329

SIPDIS

STATE FOR NEA/ARP, NEA/PD QUINN AND SMITH
TEL AVIV FOR LEBARON, RIYADH FOR TUELLER

E.O. 12958: N/A
TAGS: PREL PGOV KU
SUBJECT: KUWAITI REACTIONS TO THE NOMINATION OF RICHARD
LEBARON AS AMBASSADOR TO KUWAIT

(U) SENSITIVE BUT UNCLASSIFIED--PROTECT ACCORDINGLY


1. (U) SUMMARY: Kuwaiti media have prominently reported
Islamist opposition to the nomination of Richard LeBaron as
ambassador to Kuwait in the past few days, with a handful of
Islamist MPs, members of the Kuwait University student union
and other fellow travelers expressing dismay that
"personalities that have served in the Zionist entity" have
been accepted by the GOK. While an Islamist demonstration
yesterday against US policies in Palestine and Iraq
attracted a significant cross-section of Sunni and Shia'a
activists who repeated their opposition to the LeBaron
nomination, it is clear to us from comments by senior
government officials and from conversations with contacts
that opposition to LeBaron is not significant or deep, and
that GOK acceptance of his nomination will not be withdrawn.
END SUMMARY.


2. (U) The Rantissi assassination has provided local
Islamists with their best ammunition against Israel in some
time, and they are trying, to the limited extent they can,
to use the nomination of Tel Aviv DCM Richard LeBaron as
Ambassador to Kuwait to embarrass the GOK. There has been
some public criticism, including a demonstration by local
Islamists, with local media reporting that both members of
the Islamic Constitutional Movement (Muslim Brotherhood)
"bloc" in the National Assembly had joined together with
their more radical Salafi colleagues to block GOK agrement
for LeBaron. "We do not accept those who beat the drums for
the killing of Palestinians by Sharon to be ambassadors in
Kuwait. The United States should choose a person who is
accepted by the people first, before the government,"
intoned independent Islamist MP Dhaifallah Buramiya. The
ICM issued a statement that characterized the appointment as
exhibiting "remarkable ignorance and insensitivity to
Muslims."


3. (U) Such comments have been met with derision by the
editor-in-chief of Arabic daily Al Watan (whose paper often
provides a forum for Islamist commentary),who writes that
"with the advent of summer, there seems to be a rise in the
number of people suffering from delirium," and says that by
Islamist logic Kuwait should boycott the Palestinians for
negotiating at Oslo. Another commentator asserts that he
"wasn't much impressed" by photos of Kuwaiti students
protesting the American presence in Iraq criticizing the
LeBaron appointment, saying that the demonstration was
clearly contrived by Islamists for political gain.


4. (SBU) In private conversations with Emboffs, Kuwaiti
editors and others have suggested that ostensible reaction
to the LeBaron appointment also reflects tensions between
Islamists and the government of PM Sabah al-Ahmed al-Sabah,
already simmering from a recent government decision to merge
the Sharia College into the College of Law, and from a
decision by the Ministry of Information to host an
installment of the popular TV show "Star Academy" (an Arabic
version of "American Idol") which Islamists see as sinful.
Islamists, these contacts have told us, have been shaken by
the fact that an overwhelming percentage of the Kuwaiti
public has ignored religious fatwas to boycott the show, and
that a staggering twenty thousand Kuwaitis reportedly turned
out to welcome the Kuwaiti participant back home. Islamists
have also been stung by op/eds mocking their fatwas (one
recent cartoon showed the Kuwait public crucified on a cross
of religious prohibitions.) "The Islamists are losing the
battle for public opinion," said one senior editor, who
remarked that a local cooperative association recently voted
out its Islamist board members in favor of liberals (such
associations have been traditional bastions of Islamist
influence in Kuwait.) "Five years ago I would have told you
they represented a threat to the country, but no more."


5. (SBU) Comment: A senior advisor to Kuwait's PM told us
that the flap over the LeBaron nomination is just "expected
empty talk" and should be viewed as such. The GOK has no
intention of revisiting the issue, and we think the Islamist
rhetoric on the issue reflects opportunistic local politics
rather any significant opposition to the appointment. We
will report any further commentary on this subject as
appropriate.
URBANCIC