PRIME MINISTER SAYS NO CHANCE OF CONTINUED FREE

C O N F I D E N T I A L KUWAIT 000112 SIPDIS STATE FOR PM A/S BLOOMFIELD AND NEA/ARPI SECDEF FOR ISA A/S RODMAN AND PDAS FLORY E.O. 12958: DECL: 01/07/2015 TAGS: PREL PARM KU IZ SUBJECT: PRIME MINISTER SAYS NO CHANCE OF CONTINUED FREE FUEL REF: SECSTATE 4762 Classified By: Ambassador Richard LeBaron for reasons 1.5 (b) and (d) ¶1. (C) The Ambassador delivered reftel points on continued provision of free fuel to OIF forces to Kuwaiti Prime Minister Shaykh Sabah Al-Ahmad on January 8. Shaykh Sabah said that KUWAIT was now spending USD 20-23 million a month on fuel for OIF and had been providing that support for almost two years, including for planes coming to and from Afghanistan. That arrangement was over as of January 1 and there was no possibility of extending the free fuel into ¶2005. He said that based on confidence in the letter received on December 30 from A/S Rodman, the fuel was continuing to flow, but "now we have an agreement" and it will continue "with money" from the first of the year. ¶2. (C) Shaykh Sabah made additional references to the difficulty of dealing with the Kuwaiti National Assembly which he claimed has little inkling of the extent of fuel and other financial support the GOK is giving to the U.S. He suggested that the only option available to him to extend the free fuel further would require dissolving the government and parliament and calling new elections. ¶3. (C) Ambassador referred the PM to the element in the Rodman letter containing the "hope that KUWAIT would agree to this extension," (through March). Shaykh Sabah reiterated that the arrangement had ended on December 31. The Ambassador said he was disappointed by PM's analysis that the Kuwaiti National Assembly would reject further fuel assistance. ¶4. (C) Comment: The Prime Minister was categoric. Whatever nuance the Kuwaiti Ambassador may have conveyed about the possibility of extending the terms of free fuel was nowhere to be found in the the position Shaykh Sabah staked out. Post recommends moving quickly to establish a price for the fuel with KPC. There is nothing in what we have heard from the Kuwaitis that would indicate they are thinking about a concessional price. To the contrary, in their end-of-year communications to us on the issue they have placed an emphasis on "commercial terms" for fuel supply as of January ¶1. LEBARON