"NO DECISION" ON CONTINUED GOK AID TO PALESTINIAN

C O N F I D E N T I A L KUWAIT 000400 SIPDIS SENSITIVE SIPDIS STATE FOR NEA/ARPI, LONDON FOR TSOU, PARIS FOR ZEYA E.O. 12958: DECL: 02/05/2016 TAGS: PREL KPAL IS KU SUBJECT: "NO DECISION" ON CONTINUED GOK AID TO PALESTINIAN AUTHORITY REF: KUWAIT 374 Classified By: Ambassador Richard LeBaron for reason 1.4 (d) ¶1. (SBU) The Kuwaiti government (GOK) is still undecided on whether or not to continue "aid to the Palestinian Authority" (PA) after Hamas' victory, unnamed Kuwaiti diplomatic sources said, according to an Al-Qabas report translated and reprinted February 5 in the English-daily Arab Times. (Comment: The GOK does not provide direct project assistance to the PA, but normally funnels its contributions through international organizations, primarily the Islamic Development Bank and the World Bank. End comment.) The sources emphasized, however, that "the aid has no relation to who is leading the (Palestinian) people. Who leads the occupied Palestinian territories is an internal Palestinian issue in which we will not interfere. The Kuwaiti government is ready to deal with any legal authority there as long as this authority has reached the leadership position using legal ways and elections." The sources concluded by reiterating the GOK's opposition to normalizing relations with Israel. ¶2. (C) Comment: We were unable to determine the source of the press comment. The new Amir is still considering whom to name as Prime Minister, and then a new line-up of ministers will appear over the next two weeks. Meanwhile, no decisions on much of anything are being taken by the GOK. End comment. ********************************************* 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