(U) KUWAITIS CONDEMN ASSASSINATION OF AHMED YASSIN

S E C R E T KUWAIT 000947 SIPDIS STATE FOR NEA/ARP E.O. 12958: DECL: 01/04/2014 TAGS: PREL PTER KPAL IS KU SUBJECT: (U) KUWAITIS CONDEMN ASSASSINATION OF AHMED YASSIN Classified By: CDA FRANK URBANCIC; REASON: 1.4 (B, D) ¶1. (U) The Amir and Crown Prince issued condolences to the family of HAMAS founder Shaykh Ahmed Yassin, whom the Amir described as "a symbol of the Palestinian legitimate struggle against tyranny." Prime Minister Shaykh Sabah al-Ahmed expressed sorrow at the news of the Israeli assassination of Yassin, saying that "violence begets violence" and calling on the international community to react. The National Assembly also condemned the killing of the "martyr." Speaker Jassem al-Khorafi said "Israeli terrorism does not at all help a peaceful settlement. The struggle of the Palestinian people will continue." Chairman of the parliamentary foreign relations committee Mohammed Jassem al-Saqer branded Israel "a terrorist state" and said "the United States must make a declaration on this crime." The Islamic Constitutional Movement took out a quarter-page ad in Al-Ra'i Al-Aam praising Yassin as a hero and martyr, denouncing "the terrorist Sharon and the Zionist entity." The head of the Kuwait University Student Union was typical of Kuwaiti societies and political figures in expressing outrage at the assassination of an old man in a wheelchair. A protest rally was scheduled at the College of Administrative Sciences March ¶23. ¶2. (U) The local press did report National Security Advisor Condoleezza Rice's statement that the US had no advance knowledge of the Israeli strike on Yassin, and her appeal for calm in the region. One leading editorialist, Ahmed al-Jarallah of Arab Times, wrote a nuanced column bemoaning Arab weakness but also condemning "the atrocities committed by Bin Laden in the name of Islam" and lamenting "the absence of a unified Arab policy towards peace." We have observed no acknowledgment by local media of HAMAS's violent opposition to the existence of the State of Israel, nor of the contradiction between HAMAS's stance and the Arab states' professed acceptance in principle of a two-state solution to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. ¶3. (S) While verbal condemnations of the killing of Yassin abound, the Director General of Kuwait State Security expressed confidence that it would not lead to unrest in Kuwait. URBANCIC