ISLAMIC AFFAIRS MINISTRY'S AWQAF CONFERENCE

C O N F I D E N T I A L KUWAIT 004389 SIPDIS SIPDIS NOFORN FOR NEA/ARP, CA/VO/L FOR TONY EDSON AND JHELOU E.O. 12958: DECL: 11/04/2016 TAGS: PREL CVIS KIRF SU KU SUBJECT: ISLAMIC AFFAIRS MINISTRY'S AWQAF CONFERENCE UPDATE: VISA PROBLEMS, ATTENDEES REF: A. KUWAIT 4178 ¶B. KUWAIT 3650 Classified By: Ambassador Richard LeBaron for reasons 1.4(b) and (d). ¶1. (C/NF) The Ministry of Awqaf and Islamic Affairs (MAIA) continues preparations for its conference on Islamic moderation, to be held in Washington, DC from November 17 - 19 (ref B). Post has been in daily contact with the Ministry to try to facilitate the visas of 25 Kuwaiti participants as well as with US Embassies in Paris, Moscow, Doha, Riyadh, and Cairo to facilitate the visas of participants from those consular districts. Consular Affairs informed Post that Dr. Issam Al-Basheer, the Secretary General of the World Moderation Center (the Kuwaiti agency charged with running its moderation initiatives (ref A)) had a 212(a)(3)(b) ineligibility (terrorist involvement) for a visa. MAIA was clearly concerned about the rejection of a such a senior figure in the moderation initiative and has asked Post not to share the information with anybody, including Al-Basheer himself, preferring to let MAIA Undersecretary Dr. Adel Al-Falah break the news. Al-Falah, the number two person at MAIA, is also awaiting the results of a Visas Bear sent in on October 11th. Al-Falah is supposed to leave Kuwait on November 7 for the conference, a departure time which will almost surely be delayed. (Comment: There will be some negative press reactions if the media in Kuwait learns that governmental officials had to postpone or cancel their trips to participate in a conference focused on encouraging moderation in Islam. The GOK is trying to minimize conference publicity. The Ambassador has been in touch with CA front office and appreciates its offer to help. End Comment.) ¶2. (C/NF) MAIA provided Post with a list of the American participants in the conference. The list is available as an email attachment from Kuwait Desk Officer Belinda Jackson (JacksonBK@state.gov). It includes 105 prominent American Muslim academics, civil society leaders, and religious leaders. ********************************************* * For more reporting from Embassy Kuwait, visit: http://www.state.sgov.gov/p/nea/kuwait/?cable s Visit Kuwait's Classified Website: http://www.state.sgov.gov/p/nea/kuwait/ ********************************************* * LeBaron