MGLE01: DEMARCHE TO KUWAIT ON SYRIAN WITHDRAWAL

C O N F I D E N T I A L KUWAIT 000929 SIPDIS E.O. 12958: DECL: 03/05/2015 TAGS: PREL KU LE SUBJECT: MGLE01: DEMARCHE TO KUWAIT ON SYRIAN WITHDRAWAL REF: SECSTATE 39018 Classified By: Ambassador Richard LeBaron for reasons 1.5 (b) and (d) ¶1. (C) Ambassador delivered reftel demarche on March 6 to MFA U/S Khalid Jarallah who was joined by the Foreign Minister's office director, Shaykh Ahmad Nasser Al-Sabah. (Foreign Minister was occupied in a cabinet meeting.) Jarallah made no comment on the U.S. talking points but indicated concerns about the evolving situation in Lebanon by asking several questions about the potential for negative actions by Hizballah, Palestinian refugees, Iran, and of course Syria. He remarked that he found Bashar al-Assad's references to Iraq and the U.S. in his March 5 speech to be troubling. ¶2. (C) Jarallah concluded the discussion by opining that the greatest threats facing Lebanon were internal and the immediate future of the country would depend most on how unified the Lebanese people could remain in the face of divisive internal forces. Although Lebanese Druze leader Walid Jumblatt met with the Kuwaiti PM on March 5, Jarallah offered no comment on Jumblatt's visit. LEBARON