KUWAITI DELEGATION DESCRIBES SUDAN AS "WORSE THAN

UNCLAS KUWAIT 001542 SIPDIS SENSITIVE FOR NEA/ARPI AND AF/E E.O. 12958: N/A TAGS: PREL EAID ECON EINV PHUM SU KU SUBJECT: KUWAITI DELEGATION DESCRIBES SUDAN AS "WORSE THAN BEFORE" AND SAYS GOK NOT YET READY TO INVEST ¶1. (SBU) During a 17 April meeting, Ministry of Foreign Affairs Under Secretary Khaled Al-Jarallah described the current situation in Sudan as worse than it was 20 years ago. Al-Jarallah, as part of a delegation led by Minister for Diwan Affairs Shaykh Nasser Mohammed Al-Ahmed Al-Sabah, visited Sudan from April 10-13 at the invitation of President Omar Hassan Ahmed al-Bashir. Al-Jarallah reported that the traveling party met with al-Bashir and Foreign Minister Mustafa Osman Ismail and neither raised Darfur or any of the UN Security Council Resolutions on Sudan. Al-Bashir and Ismail, whom Al-Jarallah described as being very careful with their wording, said Sudan would do its best to deal with the situation in Darfur and wanted to avoid a clash with the U.S. or the UN. They were pleased with the USD 4.5 billion pledged at the Oslo Donor's Conference, commenting that funds would be put to use in Darfur and help rebuild a country devastated by civil war. ¶2. (SBU) Al-Jarallah said Kuwait was ready to cooperate with Sudan on activities that would benefit the people and preferred to grant loans through the Kuwaiti Fund for Arab Economic Development. He added that Sudan is considering changing its investment laws to attract more foreign investors. Al-Jarallah welcomed the change, noted that Saudi Arabia and Qatar have already made investments, but said Kuwait needed confirmation that Sudan was serious about reform before investing. ¶3. (U) Also accompanying Al-Jarallah and Shaykh Nasser were Kuwait Red Crescent Society Chairman Barjas Humoud Al-Barjas, Kuwaiti Ambassador to Sudan Fahad Ahmad al-Awadhi, Under Secretary of Amiri Diwan Khalid Abdusalam Al-Bannay, Kuwaiti SIPDIS Fund for Arab Economic Development Deputy Chairman Abdulwahab Ahmad Hamad Al-Bader, Under Secretary of Amiri Diwan for Foreign Affairs Ahmad Ibrahim Al-Abdulrazaq, and Director of Ministerial Council in the Amiri Diwan Faisal Mohammed Al-Joa'an. ¶4. (U) Khartoum: Minimize considered. ********************************************* Visit Embassy Kuwait's Classified Website: http://www.state.sgov.gov/p/nea/kuwait/ You can also access this site through the State Department's Classified SIPRNET website ********************************************* LEBARON