KUWAIT AIRPORT TURNS AWAY "APOSTATE" EGYPTIAN

C O N F I D E N T I A L KUWAIT 001180 SIPDIS NEA/ARP E.O. 12958: DECL: 08/13/2019 TAGS: PGOV PHUM KMPI PREL KU SUBJECT: KUWAIT AIRPORT TURNS AWAY "APOSTATE" EGYPTIAN SCHOLAR Classified By: PolCouns Pete O'Donohue for reasons 1.4 b and d ¶1. (U) GOK authorities at Kuwait's International Airport refused entry to Egyptian literary scholar Dr. Nasir Hamid Abu Zayid on December 15, a decision that has angered local Kuwaiti liberal groups. Abu Zayid -- who was declared an apostate by an Egyptian court in 1995 for his analysis of the Quran as a mythical literary work and ordered to divorce his Muslim wife -- had been scheduled to attend a forum in Kuwait organized by the NGO Hiwar ("Dialogue") held at the Women's Social and Cultural Society. Hiwar founder Talib Al-Moli denounced the decision to block Abu Zayid's entry, saying that "any Kuwaiti citizen has the right to invite any thinker." Predictably, Islamist MP Dr. Walid Al-Tabtabaie denounced the NGOs' decision to invite Abu Zayid as an obvious provocation against Kuwait's Muslim community. Egyptian Embassy Political Counselor Khalid commented to Polcouns that Abu Zayid's denial of entry clearly reflected the growing influence of Islamists in Kuwait. ¶2. (C) Comment: The GOK decision to deny entry to a controversial figure like Abu Zayid is unsurprising. What is noteworthy is that in a Kuwaiti society increasingly trending conservative, there remains a receptive audience for thinkers like Abu Zayid -- and liberals prepared to advocate without fear to ensure that such voices can still be heard. ********************************************* ********* For more reporting from Embassy Kuwait, visit: visit Kuwait's Classified Website at: http://www.intelink.sgov.gov/wiki/Portal:Kuwa it ********************************************* ********* JONES