GCC CLOSING COMMUNIQUE STAKES OUT LITTLE NEW GROUND

S E C R E T SECTION 01 OF 02 KUWAIT 001182 NOFORN SIPDIS NEA/ARP, NEA/RA E.O. 12958: DECL: 12/17/2019 TAGS: PREL PTER ECON IR IZ IS KU SUBJECT: GCC CLOSING COMMUNIQUE STAKES OUT LITTLE NEW GROUND REF: KUWAIT 1173 Classified By: Political Counselor Pete O'Donohue for reasons 1.4 b and d ¶1. (C) GCC leaders quietly filed out of town December 16 at the conclusion of a two-day GCC Summit that made no major breakthroughs. In the absence of consensus on pressing political issues -- policy towards Iran, Palestinian reconciliation, etc., -- the communiqu hewed closely to tried and true nostrums, while what little new ground was covered was in the economic realm, with considerable emphasis given to nascent steps towards closer regional integration. From the GOK's point of view, the Summit was a success, unmarred by security incidents, high-level public squabbles, or other embarrassments that could have otherwise marred the start of Kuwait,s one year GCC presidency. End Summary. ¶2. (U) Tearing a leaf from Amir Shaykh Sabah Al Sabah's opening remarks to the Kuwait-hosted GCC Summit (reftel),the closing communique of the December 14-15 gathering emphasized common (read: uncontroversial/lowest-common-denominator) concerns about regional stability and outlined a number of joint actions to meet these challenges. Priority items addressed in the communique by the GCC's Supreme Council included the following: -- Iran: GCC participants once again reiterated their support of UAE sovereignty over three Gulf islands -- Greater Tunb, Lesser Tunb, and Aba Moussa -- presently occupied by Iran, and urged Iran to resolve the dispute with UAE through peaceful means. Participants also welcomed international efforts to resolve the Iranian nuclear crisis through peaceful means and urged Iran to allay international concerns about the nature of its nuclear program. -- Saudi Arabia/Yemen: Participants expressed their solidarity with Saudi Arabia in the face of attacks on its territory and affirmed Saudi Arabia's "absolute" right to defend its territory and the security of its citizens. They, similarly, reiterated their support for the security, stability and unity of Yemen. -- Terrorism: GCC participants noted their abhorrence of all forms of TERRORISM and condemned, in particular, terrorist acts that resulted in the deaths of innocent people and the destruction of property. They called for intensified international action to combat terrorism, including actions to enhance information exchange and inhibit terrorists from using access to national territories to plan or conduct terrorist activities in other countries. Participants noted the continuing relevance of recommendations arising from the 2005 Riyadh-hosted International Counter-terrorism Conference, including an initiative undertaken by the Saudis to establish an international center for fighting terrorism. -- Piracy: Participants expressed their concern over the continuing phenomenon of piracy in international waters, including the Gulf of Aden and the Red Sea. They lauded the role of GCC naval forces in supporting anti-piracy operations and called for stepped-up regional and international cooperation to halt acts of piracy and to apprehend pirates, consistent with national and international law. -- Iraq: Participants noted their firm support for Iraq's sovereignty, independence and territorial integrity and called for non-interference in its internal affairs and for the preservation of its Arab and Islamic identity. They called on IRAQ to finalize implementation of all UNSC resolutions related to its invasion of Kuwait, particularly those aimed at determining the fate of missing Kuwaitis and citizens of other countries, and those related to the return of missing Kuwaiti property and archives. Participants condemned recent bomb attacks in IRAQ and expressed their hope that IRAQ will soon achieve stability and prosperity. -- Israel/Palestine: Participants condemned Israeli policies "aimed at changing the geographic and demographic conditions of the occupied Palestinian territories" through the expansion of settlements. -- Switzerland: Participants condemned a Swiss decision to ban the construction of minarets and called on the international community to safeguard religious rights and protect places of worship. ¶3. (C) On the economic front, there were no real breakthroughs, although considerable emphasis was given during the Summit and on its margins to two measures that may modestly move forward economic cooperation. The leaders KUWAIT 00001182 002 OF 002 formally inaugurated the first phase of the GCC electricity grid (during a touching ceremony highlighted by a young Kuwaiti boy reciting a poem to each of the GCC leaders extolling the virtues of their nation and people; Saudi's King Abdullah reportedly later gifted the young poet with one million riyals in gratitude for his mention of Prince Sultan's "blessed recovery"). We judge that the grid may in future help deal with emergencies, but that the near term impact on electricity trading is likely to be limited as GCC countries face very similar peak demand issues. When the grid first went live in July, Kuwait actually sold Qatar electricity. Our sources tell us linkages are still missing in the grid, most notably between the KSA and UAE. ¶4. (C) The other achievement much hyped was the agreement of four of the six GCC states to move forward toward monetary union and charged Central Bank governors with working out the details required for its implementation. According to public statements, these steps would include setting up a currency board, at which the four central bank governors would have equal votes and all "major decisions" would need to be taken unanimously. The Kuwaiti parliament,s December 8 ratification of the agreement set the stage for the agreement to move forward (Kuwait 1146). Although no one in Kuwait believes that the currency union will be imminent, Central Bank Deputy Governor Mohammed Al-Hashel stressed the importance of parliament,s decision to Econcouns. Kuwait,sparliamentary ratification allowed the GoK to pursue the GCC mandate and the GCC could not have established the currency board (the precursor to a central bank) without this ratification. ¶5. (S/NF) No GCC Summit, however, would be complete without back-room squabbling and discord, and this one was no different. Ambassador learned from a credible Al Sabah source, who was present throughout, that the late arrival (by several hours) of the leaders for the December 15 closing ceremony was caused by ongoing friction between an aggrieved Qatar and other GCC delegations which had kept the GCC delegations busy until 4:30 am that morning. The Qataris reportedly blamed Bahrain, the UAE and even Kuwait for having actively sought to damage Qatar's relations with the U.S. by suggesting that Doha was somehow complicit in terror financing, i.e. not doing enough to prevent it, as well as supporting Hamas openly. (Note: Readers may recall other GCC complaints, following the Amir's troubled January 2009 "Economic Summit" that the U.S. reliance on Qatar for military support enabled the former's "bad behavior" vis-a-vis Hamas and Iran. End Note.) At the end of the day, in yet another example of the GCC's ability to produce consensus at all costs, Qatar was allowed to blackball the named Bahraini candidate for GCC SYG, endorsing only a generic "Bahraini" for the position in 2011. This, per former GCC SYG (and Kuwaiti) Abdullah Bishara, was a real slap to the nominated individual (NFI),perceived by Qatar to have an anti-Qatari bias. ********************************************* ********* For more reporting from Embassy Kuwait, visit: visit Kuwait's Classified Website at: http://www.intelink.sgov.gov/wiki/Portal:Kuwa it ********************************************* ********* JONES