(C) LIBERALS ON THE OFFENSIVE IN FACE OF GROWING

C O N F I D E N T I A L SECTION 01 OF 03 KUWAIT 001701

SIPDIS

STATE FOR NEA/ARP, NEA/RA, DRL, INR/NESA
RIYADH FOR MATT TUELLER
TEL AVIV FOR DCM LEBARON
TUNIS FOR NATALIE BROWN

E.O. 12958: DECL: 05/26/2014
TAGS: PGOV KISL KDEM PHUM SOCI KU
SUBJECT: (C) LIBERALS ON THE OFFENSIVE IN FACE OF GROWING
ISLAMIST DEMANDS

REF: A. KUWAIT 01274

B. KUWAIT 01558

Classified By: CDA Frank C. Urbancic, reasons 1.4(b,d)

1.(SBU) SUMMARY: Islamists have stepped up their demands over
the past few months, calling for restrictions on public
concerts, the "grilling" of a Cabinet minister deemed
supportive of "immoral" activities, and amendments to the
Press and Publications Law to stiffen penalties against
statements "defaming" (Sunni) Islam. An advisory committee on
the implementation of Shari'a has completed and submitted the
text of a new "Shari'a Draft Law" to the Council of
Ministers. Kuwaiti liberals, who tend to be less
well-organized and less vocal than Islamist groups and fared
poorly in the July 2003 National Assembly elections, are
starting to take the offensive against Islamist demands that
they believe threaten Kuwait's basic freedoms. Liberal
editorialists have long criticized the GOK's "marriage" of
convenience with Islamist groups and have written scathing
articles recently against Islamist social and political
influence. Kuwait's liberals have won several important
victories recently, most notably the GOK's decision to
license a popular Arab music concert despite intense Islamist
opposition and the Cabinet's approval last week of a new
draft bill granting women full political rights. Many
liberals are hopeful that regional and international
developments will encourage more hardline Islamist groups to
moderate their stance on major issues. Liberals themselves,
however, may also have to change their image to appeal to a
broader audience. END SUMMARY.

(U) ISLAMIST EFFORTS TO CONTROL "IMMORAL" BEHAVIOR
-------------- --------------

2.(SBU) Islamist MPs, spearheaded by hardline Scientific
Salafi MP Waleed Al-Tabtabaei, have threatened to "grill"
Information Minister Mohammed Abulhassan, a liberal and the
only Shiite in the 16-member Cabinet, for licensing and
allowing the hugely popular Arab music concert "Star Academy"
(based on a Lebanese reality TV show) to take place in Kuwait
earlier this month. Thousands of Kuwaiti young people
reportedly attended the concert to the dismay of Islamists,
who regarded it as "immoral" and a violation of Shari'a
principles. (Note: An unprecedented 20,000 Kuwaiti young
people reportedly greeted Kuwaiti Bashar Al-Shatti, Star
Academy runner-up, at the airport upon his return to Kuwait
recently, surprising even liberal observers. End Note).

3.(SBU) In order to preempt the "grilling" of a third Cabinet
minister so far this year, the GOK agreed May 16, as part of
a compromise with Islamist MPs, to tighten (or, in most
cases, more strictly enforce) regulations governing public
concerts. The regulations ban all forms of dancing at public
concerts by both audience members and performers, and require
"youths" (unaccompanied or single men) to sit separately from
"families." (Note: A 1997 Cabinet decision already bans
concerts that "contravene" Shari'a and Kuwaiti traditions.
End Note). Some hardline Islamists believe these restrictions
are not far-reaching enough. They would prefer to ban such
concerts altogether; failing that, they have demanded at
minimum the complete gender segregation of audience members,
a prohibition against female singers performing before men
and vice versa, and a ban against women under 21 from
attending public concerts without a chaperone. The GOK has
insisted that the current regulations, if actively enforced,
are sufficient to ensure that concerts comply with Kuwait's
traditions.

4.(SBU) Nevertheless, the Fatwa Department of the Ministry of
Awqaf and Islamic Affairs issued a (non-binding) fatwa, or
religious ruling, May 24 banning all concerts featuring
female entertainers. The Fatwa Department has "recommended"
that the GOK enforce the ruling. (Note: The fatwa, issued by
a department within a government ministry, goes far beyond
the compromise solution reached with MPs to more actively
enforce already existing restrictions on public concerts.
Although the Fatwa Department has no authority to enforce or
implement its religious rulings, the issuance of the fatwa
represents a victory for hardline Islamists and indicates
that debate over the concert issue is far from over. End
Note).

(U) DEBATE OVER "ISLAMIZATION"
--------------

5.(C) Some Islamists have actively advocated for the
"Islamization" of all laws, including the Penal Code. The
Constitution says Shari'a is "a main source" of legislation
but some Islamists would like to amend this to "the main
source." The Higher Advisory Committee on Completion of the
Application of Islamic Shari'a Provisions, created by an
Amiri Decree in 1991, is tasked with preparing Kuwaiti
society for the full implementation of Shari'a in all fields.
The committee has completed the text of a proposed new
"Shari'a Draft Law" in accordance with its mandate and has
submitted it to the GOK for review and consideration. In a
meeting with Poloff recently, however, the Secretary General
of the Committee, moderate Islamist Dr. Ayoub Al-Ayoub,
acknowledged that the GOK, especially Prime Minister Sheikh
Sabah Al-Ahmed, would never tolerate the implementation of
Shari'a law in "contentious" areas such as women's rights or
the Penal Code, nor would the GOK support any measures that
would contradict the "current open environment" in Kuwait.
Many Kuwaiti liberals argue that the Shari'a Committee is
unnecessary and should be dissolved.

(U) LIBERALS DECRY "DANGEROUS CAMPAIGN AGAINST FREEDOM"
-------------- --------------

6.(SBU) Some 500 liberals reportedly participated in a rally
at the Kuwait Graduates Society, a well established liberal
NGO, on May 17 to protest the new GOK restrictions on public
concerts, accusing the GOK of engaging in a "dangerous
campaign against freedom." Seven liberal NGOs also reportedly
issued a joint statement calling the new restrictions an
"attack" on Kuwait's constitution. At an informal evening
gathering last week at a well-known liberal household,
several attendees told Poloff that Islamist parliamentarians
had gone too far this time in trying to advance their
political and social agenda, and that most Kuwaitis do not
support their actions. The liberal editor-in-chief of the
English language daily Arab Times wrote in a scathing
editorial on May 19 that "people have woken from the coma
induced by Islamic political groups, who use religion as a
cover to impose their will on others by telling them what is
right and wrong."

7.(SBU) Significantly, 22 MPs, including Islamic
Constitutional Movement (ICM) MPs Dr. Nasser Al-Sane and Dr.
Mohammed Al-Bossairi, submitted a petition last week calling
for the postponement of the "grilling" of Information
Minister Abulhassan. (Note: ICM, which has ties to the Muslim
Brotherhood, is the most moderate of the three main Islamist
political groups here. End Note). They reportedly appealed to
three hardline Islamist MPs (Scientific Salafi MPs Dr. Waleed
Al-Tabtabaei and Dr. Awad Barad Al-Enezi, and independent
Islamist Dr. Faisal Al-Mislim) to delay the "grilling" in
order to give the GOK an opportunity to implement the new
concert regulations. Rifts within the Islamic Bloc were
already evident before the concert issue when ICM members
boycotted a sparsely attended Scientific Salafi-sponsored
rally at the National Assembly in April protesting U.S.
"genocide" against Sunni Muslims in Fallujah. The ICM's new
younger leaders are eager to portray the organization as
moderate and progressive (ref A),and the organization has
distanced itself in practice from more hardline Islamists on
Iraq, women's political rights, and the "grilling" of
Abulhassan.

(U) NEW LIBERAL ALLIANCE TO CHALLENGE ISLAMIST INFLUENCE
-------------- --------------

8.(C) Various liberal groups established the National
Democratic Alliance (NDA) in early 2004 (around the same time
as the ICM undertook its structural and personnel
reorganization) as a loose umbrella organization aimed at
unifying liberals and improving their prospects for election
to the National Assembly in 2007. NDA has a new board
composed of young activists focused on expanding outreach and
appeal, particularly to Kuwaiti youth. Khaled Al-Mutairi, a
youngish and well-connected lawyer and former Political
Advisor to the Minister of Defense, was appointed as the
NDA's Secretary General in February. In a candid meeting with
Poloffs in April, Al-Mutairi argued that both the Kuwait
Democratic Forum (KDF) and the National Democratic Movement
(NDM),the two main liberal political groupings in the
country, lost seats in the 2003 parliamentary elections
because most of their candidates were middle-aged and lacked
broad popular appeal. He also attributed the defeat to
disunity among liberals, the lack of a coherent agenda, and
weak organization compared to Islamist political groups.
Al-Mutairi said the NDA is actively working to bring liberals
together on key issues such as women's political rights,
electoral reform, and economic liberalization.

(U) WOMEN'S RIGHTS BILL MAJOR STEP FOR LIBERALS
-------------- --
9.(SBU) The Cabinet's approval May 16 of a new GOK draft bill
granting women full political rights (coinciding with the 5th
anniversary of the 1999 Amiri decree that granted these
rights but was narrowly voted down by the National Assembly)
represents a major step for the country's liberals (ref B).
The women's political rights issue may now be the cornerstone
around which liberal and Islamist political groups wage their
battle over the future direction of Kuwaiti society. Since
the Cabinet's approval of the bill May 16, liberal NGOs have
hosted at least two well-attended seminars on women's
political participation, in which influential liberal and
opposition MPs have participated: one May 16 sponsored by the
Kuwait Writers' Society and one May 23 sponsored jointly by
the Women's Cultural and Social Society and the Kuwait Human
Rights Society that included a few ultraconservative Islamist
attendees. The women's rights bill must be presented to the
National Assembly for ratification, but it is unlikely to
reach the floor until the 2004-05 session.

10.(SBU) Liberal groups have also been emboldened by the
GOK's recent decision to subsume the now independent Faculty
of Shari'a within Kuwait University's Faculty of Law, and
recent unprecedented Islamist losses in cooperative society
elections (Salmiya and Kaifan districts) and in elections to
the prestigious U.S. branch of the National Union of Kuwait
Students. Two liberal/independent student groups at Kuwait
University, "Al-Mustaqilla" and "Democratic Center,"
reportedly forged an alliance recently in order to counter
the traditional dominance of ICM and Salafi groups.

11.(SBU) COMMENT: Many liberals are cautiously optimistic
that the GOK may be serious this time in granting women
political rights. Given the timing of the bill's announcement
on the 5th anniversary of the 1999 Amiri decree, another GOK
defeat on this pivotal issue would be deeply embarrassing,
especially in light of growing regional and international
criticism of Kuwait's lack of progress compared to some Gulf
neighbors. Apparent fractures within the Islamic Bloc in
parliament and the recent string of liberal victories seem to
be energizing liberals to take the offensive against Islamist
political and social influence. However, just as the ICM's
new younger leaders are trying to appeal to a broader
audience by presenting the newly restructured organization as
mainstream and progressive, liberal groups may also have to
change their image. In this predominantly conservative,
tribal, patriarchal society, liberal groups are -- almost by
definition -- perceived as parties of irreligion and vice,
deviating from the cherished values of the culture. This
largely discredits their efforts to promote greater
democratic reforms. The less liberals are seen as Western
"agents" and the more attachment they show to accepted
values, the greater their appeal may be, especially to
Kuwaiti youth.
URBANCIC