KUWAIT DEMARCHE DELIVERED: PREVENTING AL-MANAR

C O N F I D E N T I A L KUWAIT 005061 SIPDIS SIPDIS STATE FOR NEA/ARPI, LONDON FOR TSOU, PARIS FOR ZEYA E.O. 12958: DECL: 12/09/2015 TAGS: PREL PGOV PTER ANET ASEC KU SUBJECT: KUWAIT DEMARCHE DELIVERED: PREVENTING AL-MANAR BROADCASTS REF: STATE 216186 Classified By: Ambassador Richard LeBaron for reasons 1.4 (b) and (d) ¶1. (C) NEA DAS Gordon Gray delivered reftel demarche during a December 6 meeting with Ministry of Foreign Affairs Acting U/S Ambassador Khaled Al-Babtain. DAS Gray emphasized the insidious nature of Al-Manar broadcasts and urged the GOK to remove the station from Arabsat, of which Kuwait owns a 14.59% share. Al-Babtain said the Arabsat "council" would have to decide on the issue, but in any case the impact of Al-Manar on Kuwait was "very limited." Al-Babtain was unsure who administered the Kuwaiti share of Arabsat, but promised to get more information. DAS Gray stressed the importance of removing Al-Manar from the airways. (Note: Post understands that Kuwait is represented in Arabsat by the Ministry of Communications and the Kuwait Investment Authority is the funding mechanism. End note.) ¶2. (C) The Ambassador also delivered reftel demarche points to Minister of Information Dr. Anas Al-Rashaid and provided the Minister with a non-paper outlining the U.S. position on Al-Manar in a December 7 meeting. ¶3. (U) This cable has been cleared by DAS Gray. ********************************************* 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