DEMARCHE DELIVERED: ARABSAT AND NILESAT BROADCAST

C O N F I D E N T I A L KUWAIT 000241 SIPDIS SIPDIS STATE FOR NEA/ARP E.O. 12958: DECL: 02/19/2017 TAGS: PREL ASEC ETTC KPAL KPAO PTER KU DEMARCHE SUBJECT: DEMARCHE DELIVERED: ARABSAT AND NILESAT BROADCAST OF AL MANAR AND POTENTIAL BROADCAST OF AL AKSA REF: A. KUWAIT 47 ¶B. STATE 202506 Classified By: Charge d'Affaires Matt Tueller for reasons 1.4 (b) and ( d) ¶1. (C) During a February 11 meeting with Shaykh Ali Abdullah, the Acting Director of the Americas Department at the MFA, the Charge d'Affaires and visiting NEA/ARP Office Director Alan Misenheimer reiterated U.S. concerns about the continued broadcast of Al Manar Television and the potential broadcast of Al Aksa Television on Arabsat and Nilesat (ref B). The Government of Kuwait (GOK) is one of seven Arab countries who have significant shareholdings in Arabsat. Shaykh Ali said he was personally aware of the broadcasts and agreed that they were intolerable. He promised to raise the issue with the Foreign Minister. Ref B demarche was first delivered by PolOff on January 8 to Hamad Al-Mashan in the MFA's America's Department (ref A). ¶2. (C) The demarche was also delivered February 14 by PDOff via telephone to Tariq Al-Ajmi, the Director of Television Affairs at the Ministry of Information. Al-Ajmi said he knew of the broadcasts, but noted that it was difficult to control satellite transmissions outside Kuwait. ¶3. (C) The Charge also raised U.S. concerns about Arabsat and Nilesat programming in a February 19 meeting with MFA Undersecretary Khaled Al-Jarallah. Al-Jarallah was unfamiliar with the GOK ownership interest in Arabsat. In response to Charge's statement that Kuwait was a minority shareholder, Al-Jarallah noted that it would be easier to take action if Kuwait was the majority owner. ********************************************* * 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/ ********************************************* * TUELLER