Identifier
Created
Classification
Origin
05KUWAIT3851
2005-08-28 13:32:00
CONFIDENTIAL
Embassy Kuwait
Cable title:  

KUWAIT TO RECOMMEND JOINT KUWAIT-IRAQ BORDER

Tags:  PGOV PREL PBTS MARR IZ KU UN KUWAIT IRAQ RELATIONS 
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C O N F I D E N T I A L KUWAIT 003851 

SIPDIS

STATE FOR NEA/ARPI, LONDON FOR TSOU, PARIS FOR ZEYA, USUN
FOR LAPENN

E.O. 12958: DECL: 08/27/2015
TAGS: PGOV PREL PBTS MARR IZ KU UN KUWAIT IRAQ RELATIONS
SUBJECT: KUWAIT TO RECOMMEND JOINT KUWAIT-IRAQ BORDER
COMMITTEE; WILLING TO PAY COSTS OF UN MAINTENANCE TEAM

REF: A. KUWAIT 3755 (AND PREVIOUS)

B. KUWAIT 3565

Classified By: Ambassador Richard LeBaron for reasons 1.4 (b) and (d)

C O N F I D E N T I A L KUWAIT 003851

SIPDIS

STATE FOR NEA/ARPI, LONDON FOR TSOU, PARIS FOR ZEYA, USUN
FOR LAPENN

E.O. 12958: DECL: 08/27/2015
TAGS: PGOV PREL PBTS MARR IZ KU UN KUWAIT IRAQ RELATIONS
SUBJECT: KUWAIT TO RECOMMEND JOINT KUWAIT-IRAQ BORDER
COMMITTEE; WILLING TO PAY COSTS OF UN MAINTENANCE TEAM

REF: A. KUWAIT 3755 (AND PREVIOUS)

B. KUWAIT 3565

Classified By: Ambassador Richard LeBaron for reasons 1.4 (b) and (d)


1. (C) In an August 27 meeting with the Ambassador, Foreign
Minister Shaykh Dr. Mohammed Sabah Al-Salem Al-Sabah said
Kuwait would request establishment of a joint Kuwait-Iraq
committee to work with the United Nations team on maintenance
of the countries' shared border, which was officially
demarcated by UNSCR 833. (Note: The UN team is scheduled to
arrive in September (ref A). End note.) The FM told the
Ambassador he would speak with his Iraqi counterpart and
encourage him to send a formal letter to the UN accepting the
formation of the committee. He did not specify when Kuwait
intended to make the request, though we believe it is likely
to occur during the upcoming UNGA.


2. (C) The Ambassador asked the FM how Kuwait would respond
if, as Iraqi Foreign Minister Hoshyar Zebari reportedly said,
Iraq was unable to pay its part of the UN border pillar
maintenance team's costs. Shaykh Dr. Mohammed replied that
"the money issue would not delay the work of the UN team," a
statement we interpreted as an implicit acknowledgment that
Kuwait would be willing to pay Iraq's share of the costs.
(Note: Iraqi "buy-in" would be through participation in the
committee. End note.)


3. (C) Shown a commercial satellite map of the border near
Umm Qasr by the Ambassador as an example of the type of
satellite imagery the U.S. would provide the UN as requested
(ref B),the FM mentioned that although some Iraqi farms
infringed on Kuwaiti territory, they did not extend more than
10 to 15 meters across the border.

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LEBARON