Identifier
Created
Classification
Origin
05KUWAIT5032
2005-12-06 15:12:00
CONFIDENTIAL
Embassy Kuwait
Cable title:  

HUMANITARIAN OPERATIONS CENTER CHIEF ON IRAQ AND

Tags:  PGOV PTER PREL KISL OFDP SOCI PINR IZ KU 
pdf how-to read a cable
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PP RUEHBC RUEHDE RUEHIHL RUEHKUK RUEHMOS
DE RUEHKU #5032/01 3401512
ZNY CCCCC ZZH
P 061512Z DEC 05
FM AMEMBASSY KUWAIT
TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC PRIORITY 2047
INFO RUCNRAQ/IRAQ COLLECTIVE PRIORITY
RUEAIIA/CIA WASHDC PRIORITY
RUEHKU/OMC-K KUWAIT KU PRIORITY
RUEHKU/USDAO KUWAIT KU PRIORITY
C O N F I D E N T I A L SECTION 01 OF 03 KUWAIT 005032 

SIPDIS

SIPDIS

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

E.O. 12958: DECL: 11/29/2015
TAGS: PGOV PTER PREL KISL OFDP SOCI PINR IZ KU
KUWAIT-IRAQ RELATIONS
SUBJECT: HUMANITARIAN OPERATIONS CENTER CHIEF ON IRAQ AND
HIS POSSIBLE MOVE TO BAGHDAD AS AMBASSADOR

REF: A. KUWAIT 4451


B. KUWAIT 3507

C. KUWAIT 1120

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

C O N F I D E N T I A L SECTION 01 OF 03 KUWAIT 005032

SIPDIS

SIPDIS

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

E.O. 12958: DECL: 11/29/2015
TAGS: PGOV PTER PREL KISL OFDP SOCI PINR IZ KU
KUWAIT-IRAQ RELATIONS
SUBJECT: HUMANITARIAN OPERATIONS CENTER CHIEF ON IRAQ AND
HIS POSSIBLE MOVE TO BAGHDAD AS AMBASSADOR

REF: A. KUWAIT 4451


B. KUWAIT 3507

C. KUWAIT 1120

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


1. (C) Summary: Lt. General (Ret.) Ali Mohammed Hassan Al
Mu'min, head of Kuwait's Humanitarian Operations Center
(HOC),met with poloff on November 28 and discussed his
candidacy for ambassador to Iraq, the extension of the HOC's
mandate until spring 2006, and Sunni-Shi'a relations in
Kuwait. The meeting was marked by frank comments from
General Ali, the former Chief of Staff who retired from the
military as the highest ranking Shi'a officer in 2002.
Saying that Kuwaiti Sunni-Shi'a relations were "suffering"
due to the growing influence of Sunni fundamentalists and
Zarqawi's influence on youth throughout the region, General
Ali counseled that "there would have to be more blood shed in
Iraq" before the general public called for peace and the
violence ended. The General wanted to clear the air over
misperceptions that his interest in Iraq was focused only on
southern Iraq due to his ties to the Shi'a community. The
former chief of staff also described himself in the order of
Kuwaiti, Arab, Muslim, and lastly Shi'a, offering some
insight as to how he views his loyalties and how effective he
might be if he served in Iraq. A readout of his November
29-December 1 trip to Baghdad will be coming septel. End
Summary.

HOC Will Be Around in 2007
--------------


2. (C) General Ali opened the meeting by stating that when
he came back from medical treatment for early-stage prostate
cancer in England in August, he was fully prepared to find
the HOC gone, its mission returned to the various offices in
the ministries of the Interior (MOI),Health (MOH),and
Foreign Affairs (MFA). Instead he was surprised to find that

the HOC would remain, but that it would be broken up into
separate offices within those ministries, and that he would
retain all administrative control over its authority (ref b).
Seated in his office within the MFA's Consular Affairs
building in the industrial area of Shuwaikh, General Ali said
that he initially doubted the separation of the HOC would
work, but allowed that he now has the staff he needs to
continue HOC's missions inside of Iraq. The HOC's
humanitarian mission continues in both in medical evacuation
and treatment cases as well as funding health centers and
schools. The General said that he expected the HOC to be
able to make valuable contributions to Iraq's people until
"at least" 2007.


3. (C) Beginning in early 2004, the HOC received five or six
three-month extensions to continue its work (ref c). General
Ali admitted that the Council of Ministers' failure to grant
longer extensions annoyed him, but he hoped that the latest
extension, which continues the HOC mandate until March 31,
2006, will be renewed without "all the work and effort" it
took previously. Stating that it was the Foreign Minister,
Shaykh Dr. Mohammed Al-Salem Al-Sabah, who kept him "reined
in" in the past, Ali added that the FM now "gave up" and let
him travel to Iraq when necessary, no longer questioning the
necessity of his travel. General Ali has traveled to Iraq
over half a dozen times since 2003 and visited Baghdad as
recently as November 29.

Ambassador Ali?
--------------


4. (C) On his candidacy for ambassador to Iraq, General Ali
was blunt: he claimed that the FM had approached him 6 months
ago and asked if he would accept the ambassadorship. The
General replied that he "did not seek out any more glory" and
would only "accept the job if his services were needed by the
State of Kuwait." Intimating that he found the HOC job
enough of a challenge, he shared that there had been another
candidate for the job but that he had dropped out after being
given an ambassadorship to another country. General Ali went
on to say that the FM then told him that his nomination had
been discussed with MP Mohammed Jassem Al-Sager, head of the
Foreign Affairs Committee, and that it was now "well-known in
Kuwait" that he was asked to go to Baghdad.


5. (C) General Ali voiced concerns over the quality of life
issues in Baghdad, especially for his wife, and asked poloff
if the USG could make space for the Kuwaiti Embassy within

KUWAIT 00005032 002 OF 003


the Green Zone, since that is where he felt most
"comfortable." He added that he had been investigating
security firms which could provide bodyguards for him in
Iraq. According to Iraqis to whom he spoke, the firms should
all provide at least one Kurd bodyguard because the "Kurdish
will not have a problem shooting an Arab while an Arab might
have a problem doing so," adding that he understood the logic
behind it and would look to ensure that he had a Kurd or
other non-Arab in his security entourage.

Kuwaiti First and Foremost
--------------


6. (C) When discussing how General Ali identified himself,
the General insisted that he was first and foremost Kuwaiti,
and pledged to defend the Constitution of his country. He
would then consider himself Arab, then Muslim, and lastly
Shi'a. "So you see," he affirmed, "I am a Shi'a but that is
only 25% of me. The rest is the order that I just told you."
The former Chief of Staff criticized those who said he
focused only on his Shi'a "brothers" stressing that his
travel for the HOC included the Kurdish north as well as the
Sunni Triangle and that he tried to ensure donations from the
GOK were spread fairly around the country. Ali said that the
GOK may have given Najaf 5 million dollars in aid, but that
he was also able to get Fallujah 3.5 million dollars as well
(through private donations),a city that he claimed was "full
of former Ba'athist military officers."

Have Guard, Will Travel
--------------


7. (C) General Ali has traveled extensively through Iraq,
criss-crossing the country since Coalition troops went in
during spring 2003. He remarked that he felt safer in 2003
when he traveled in an Iraqi-owned car with a couple of
Iraqis as his guards, traveling from Basra to Mosul and towns
in between, than he did traveling to and from the Green Zone
in the company of U.S. troops. He added that he was able to
meet with a number of Iraqi local leaders, including
Ayatollah Al-SISTANI.

Shi'a and Sunni Relations
--------------


8. (C) General Ali spoke of his concerns of a faltering
relationship between Kuwaiti Sunnis and Shi'as. He said
there was an increase in the allowance of takfiri ideology
within Kuwait and that an unidentified Kuwaiti MP had spoken
in defense of a Sunni Imam who preached takfiri ideology.
(Note: "takfir" refers to the practice of accusing others,
including some Muslims, of apostasy, a crime punishable by
death in some extreme interpretations of Islam. End note.)
According to the General, the negative influences and
restrictiveness of the fundamentalist Sunnis began in the
1960s when Gamal Abdul Nasser in Egypt cracked down on the
Islamic Brotherhood (aka Muslim Brotherhood) and many of them
moved to the Gulf, especially Kuwait. In addition, he said
that a number of Saudis have also moved into Kuwait since the
1980s, pushing their Wahabbi traditions and thinking.
Evidence of this could be seen during prayertime, "when
Sunnis cross their arms to pray, something that they never
did in the past," he claimed. "This, combined with the fact
that the Government has done little to stop it, is why we are
now having problems."


9. (C) Going on to talk about the attack on a Shi'a mosque
in Jahra on October 7 (ref a),he said "the recent incident
in Jahra is surprising only because it did not happen (here)
before." General Ali pointed out that the attack was possible
"only in an atmosphere of tolerance for such action," and
that excess money and fundamentalist influence among Kuwaiti
youth made it possible. "The Government must watch out. You
cannot stop this type of thinking after it has spread across
the country," he counseled, warning that the influence of
Zarqawi and others in Iraq was spilling over to Kuwait.
General Ali advised that Zarqawi was not only receiving aid
from Jordan and Syria but from other neighbors (read Iran)
and that his influence would only grow in the near term. The
General commented that the region would have to see and shed
more blood before the people "had enough" and called for true
peace.

Bio Note
--------------


KUWAIT 00005032 003 OF 003



10. (C) Bio Note: Lt. General Ali was known to keep a cadre
of Shi'a officers close to him during his time as Chief of
Staff (March 1991 - December 2002). This led to animosity
within the upper military ranks which echoes today. A recent
purge of intelligence officers within the J-2 office at the
Ministry of Defense in April saw all of the Shi'a officers
reassigned elsewhere. In addition, Kuwaiti contacts have
told poloff that the reason the HOC cannot get longer
extensions is because many Kuwaitis are uncomfortable with
Ali, as a Shi'a, having control over so much money. Ali's
family was originally from Saudi Arabia. He is married with
five children, three sons and two daughters. One of his sons
works in the Ministry of Defense, one in the Ministry of
Foreign Affairs, and one in the private sector. His older
daughter is married to a Finn and lives in London. His
younger daughter lives at home. Ali speaks English fluently
and was trained in the U.K. He received treatment for
prostate cancer in July 2005 in England.

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