AMBASSADOR RE-EMPHASIZES RECENT DEMARCHES DURING

UNCLAS KUWAIT 004555 SIPDIS SENSITIVE E.O. 12958: N/A TAGS: PGOV PREL PINR KU SUBJECT: AMBASSADOR RE-EMPHASIZES RECENT DEMARCHES DURING MEETING WITH NEW MFA ECON HEAD REF: A. REFTEL A: KUWAIT 4402 ¶B. REFTEL B: STATE 195286 ¶C. REFTEL C: 190748 ¶D. REFTEL D: 195483 ¶E. REFTEL E: 195603 ¶F. REFTEL F: 189774 ¶1. (U) On October 23, the Ambassador, accompanied by Econcouns and Econoff (notetaker),met with the new head of the Economics Department at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Shaykh Ali Khaled Al-Sabah. The Ambassador congratulated Al-Sabah on his recent appointment and discussed current issues as well as the subjects of recent demarche cables, including the stalled TIFA talks and IPR (Ref A),WTO agriculture negotiations (Ref B and C),recovery aid to Pakistan (Ref D),the mechanics of the GOK's donation to hurricane Katrina relief, Avian Influenza (AI) (Ref E),and the Foundation for the Future (FFF) project (Ref F). The Ambassador repeated the subject of the relevant demarches and left behind non-papers on each issue. Al-Sabah, noting that his office was still in the process of forming up, said he had no immediate substantive responses to offer, but would ensure that USG concerns were reviewed by the appropriate offices within MFA. He further volunteered to follow up with those offices and to respond at a later date. Bio Note ======== ¶2. (SBU) The Emir's son, Jarrah Al-Sabah, also attended the meeting and acted as notetaker. He studied at the University of Pennsylvania, but did not graduate; later he transferred to, and graduated from, the University of Delaware. He was recently hired by Shaykh Ali Khaled Al-Sabah to work in the Economics Department. ********************************************* 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