KUWAIT EXPRESSES FRUSTRATION AT NATO'S SLOW PACE

C O N F I D E N T I A L SECTION 01 OF 02 KUWAIT 004231

SIPDIS

STATE FOR EUR/PM, NEA/ARPI, LONDON FOR TSOU, PARIS FOR ZEYA

E.O. 12958: DECL: 09/28/2015
TAGS: MARR PREL PTER IR IZ KU NATO
SUBJECT: KUWAIT EXPRESSES FRUSTRATION AT NATO'S SLOW PACE

REF: KUWAIT 1175

Classified By: Deputy Chief of Mission Matthew Tueller for reasons 1.4
(a) and (b)


1. (U) This is an action request. Please see para 7.


2. (C) Summary. NATO member embassies held a second
Istanbul Cooperation Initiative (ICI) meeting September 28 at
the Italian Embassy. The meeting was chaired by Italian
Ambassador Vincenzo Prati, and in attendance were the Chiefs
and Deputy Chiefs of Mission from seventeen NATO countries as
well as the assistant to the chief of the Kuwait National
Security Bureau (KNSB),Shaykh Thamer Ali Al-Sabah. During
the first half of the meeting, Ambassador Prati updated the
group on Kuwait's recent ICI developments, including work on
a Status of Forces Agreement (SOFA) for transit of NATO
troops and goods to Iraq, and the participation of a GOK
official in a five-month training course at the Defense
College in Rome. The second half of the meeting saw a
presentation by Shaykh Thamer on the GOK's frustration at
NATO's failure to produce a country specific plan for
seminars and training directed towards Kuwait. End Summary.


3. (C) A second ICI meeting of NATO embassies in Kuwait was
held on September 28 with the Italian Ambassador as host and
chair. The first hour saw discussion on NATO's SOFA
negotiations, with the Dutch Ambassador commenting that the
SOFA should not be tied to Iraq as "we may want to do
something after actions have ended there." The French Defense
Attach pointed out that the agenda prepared by the Italian
Embassy focused on what NATO wanted rather than what NATO
could offer Kuwait. The British DCM and DCM Tueller both
spoke of concentrating NATO's offer to things that were
useful in country such as counter-terrorism and border
control, rather than offering up the whole gamut of twelve
different areas of cooperation. Finally, there was general
agreement that Kuwait and the other GCC countries should not
be treated as if they were in Europe and that NATO had to be
culturally aware when making its pitch for offerings of
seminars and training.

The GOK Point of View
--------------


4. (C) Shaykh Thamer of the NSB arrived after the first hour
and proceeded directly into his presentation. He expressed
frustration that NATO had not yet come up with a plan of
action for Kuwait under the auspices of the ICI, especially
since Kuwait had sent seven delegations to Brussels since
November 2004. Shaykh Thamer, a member of the ruling family,
laid out the GOK's five areas of interest for training:
Border Security, Crisis Management, Counter-Terrorism,
Military Exercises and Related Training Activities, and
Proliferation of WMD. Stressing that he had already passed
this information to NATO in early 2005, he said the GOK had
been waiting since mid-April for a NATO report on how the GOK
should begin training and what type of training to receive.
Shaykh Thamer stated "we have participated" without receiving
any word on country specific training that would be of direct
benefit to Kuwait.


5. (C) Additionally, Shaykh Thamer remarked that the GOK
offered to host the 3rd Annual GCC/NATO dialogue in 2006. He
explained that the invitation came about because the GOK felt
NATO officials needed to visit Kuwait and see the people, in
order to understand their specific concerns and needs. He
also said that relocating the dialogue to the Gulf would help
get Saudi Arabia and Oman interested in ICI and possibly
convince them to join. Kuwait would be able to invite a
greater number of guests than NATO, and the discussion would
be more encompassing as well as convincing, specifically for
Saudi Arabia, he added. The GOK has not received a response
to their offer.


6. (C) Shaykh Thamer noted that the GOK had also sent an
invitation to NATO Secretary General Jaap de Hoop Scheffer to
visit Kuwait and the Gulf but, again, that no response had
been received. Kuwait News Agency (KUNA) reported last week
that Scheffer would visit Kuwait in November but gave no
further details and Post has no information on the visit.
Shaykh Thamer expressed hope that if SG Scheffer personally
visited all GCC countries and met with heads of state, he
would convince those who had not yet joined ICI to become
part of the program (i.e. Saudi Arabia and Oman). Noting
that NATO, with Kuwait, was 26 1, Shaykh Thamer said he
wished to see it become 26 6, denoting the six countries of
the GCC. He ended his presentation with a request that
relevant countries do their part to find out from NATO what
happened to the GOK training plan and invitations to the
region.


7. (C) Action request. Post requests USMission NATO track
the GOK's invitation to host the 2006 GCC/NATO dialogue as
well as the invitation to host NATO SG Scheffer, and inform
us of any decision that is made.

*********************************************
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