(C) ARTICLE 98: "LEAVE IT TO US"

C O N F I D E N T I A L KUWAIT 001662

SIPDIS

STATE FOR T, L/T, D, PM/B:AMB. BODINE AND JPMURRAY, NEA/ARP

E.O. 12958: DECL: 05/25/2014
TAGS: PREL MARR KJUS KU
SUBJECT: (C) ARTICLE 98: "LEAVE IT TO US"

REF: KUWAIT 1635 AND PREVIOUS

Classified By: CDA FRANK URBANCIC; REASON 1.4 (B, D).


1. (C) MFA Acting Undersecretary Amb. Khaled al-Babtain told
CDA May 25 that the Cabinet's Legal Committee (the Ministers
of Justice, Information, and Commerce) would meet May 26 to
consider what is needed according to Kuwaiti law to bring the
Article 98 agreement into force. He said MFA would send a
representative to that meeting with a mandate to press for "a
clearcut answer" so as to bring the agreement into force. He
added that MFA wanted to avoid having to seek parliamentary
ratification.


2. (C) CDA stressed that we do not just want an answer, "we
want yes." He noted that 89 countries have now signed
Article 98 agreements with us, and 77 of those agreements
have entered into force. Babtain, whose full-time job is
Director of the Americas Dept., insisted there is no debate
within GOK about whether to bring the agreement into force,
it is just a matter of determining what legal mechanism to
use. "Leave it to us," he concluded.


3. (C) COMMENT: At this stage, we are not prepared to take
Babtain's assurance at face value. We will keep pressing the
GOK to reach closure.
URBANCIC