DEMARCHES DELIVERED: DOHA SUMMIT/PALESTINIAN

C O N F I D E N T I A L KUWAIT 000311 SIPDIS NEA/ARP, NEA/I E.O. 12958: DECL: 10/14/2018 TAGS: PREL KPAL PHUM AL SU KU SUBJECT: DEMARCHES DELIVERED: DOHA SUMMIT/PALESTINIAN AUTHORITY REF: A. STATE 28323 ¶B. STATE 27330 ¶C. STATE 29399 Classified By: Political Counselor Pete O'Donohue for reasons 1.4 b and d ¶1. (C) Ambassador on March 27 raised with MFA Undersecretary Khalid Jarallah points contained refs A and B in advance of the March 30-31 Arab League Summit in Doha. Jarallah, in response, told Ambassador that he anticipated the Summit's final communique would "definitely be supportive of the Arab Peace Initiative" and would "include Quartet language." Concerning the AL position on Sudanese President Bashir, Jarallah told Ambassador he believed the Summit would call for a postponement of prosecutorial action againt Bashir, "consistent with Article 16 of the Court's own charter." Jarallah suggested that such a postponement would give the AL time to work with Sudan to address the urgent humanitarian situation in Darfur. ¶2. (C) Jarallah told Ambassador he anticipated that neither Libyan leader Ghaddafi nor Moroccan King Mohammed VI would attend the Summit, but that Jordanian King Abdullah would attend, notwithstanding ongoing irritation with Qatar over some critical articles that appeared in Al Jazeerah. Jarallah said he believed King Abdullah would arrive together with Bahraini King Hamad bin Issa. (Note: Consequently, Ghaddafi did attend, which led to an apparently unintentional contretemps with his Qatari hosts and King Abdallah of Saudi Arabia. Reconciliation appears to remain an elusive goal. End Note.) ¶3. (C) POLCOUNS, during a March 29 meeting with Dr. Hamad Bu Rahamah, MFA's acting director of the Arab World Department, shared ref A points and also raised ref B points concerning Palestinian reconcilation and a national unity government and ref C points concerning the need for enhanced budget support for the Palestinian Authority. Regarding the USG view expressed reftels that attempts to force Palestinian reconciliation at the expense of Quartet principles would be counter-productive to the goal of creating conditions for a two-state solution that included an independent and responsible Palestinian state, Bu Rahamah said the GOK supports and agrees with the Quartet Principles but believes there also has to be more "give" coming from the Israelis. Bu Rahamah noted that the Arab Peace Initiative has been on the table for several years and that Israel has been slow to respond; pressure on Israel from the USG to behave in a more flexible manner would be welcome. Concerning ref C points regarding budget support for the PA, Bu Rahamah noted that the GOK remains "concerned" about the PA's viability, but has already contributed extensively. ¶4. (C) On the specific issue of the AL posture towards President Bashir at the Doha Summit, Bu Rahamah suggested that the ICC call to arrest Bashir is "not helpful at this stage." The GOK's preference, he said, would be for the AL to work with Sudan to improve the situation in Darfur, notwithstanding the GOK's sense that this is fundamentally a Sudanese internal matter. ********************************************* ********* For more reporting from Embassy Kuwait, visit: visit Kuwait's Classified Website at: http://www.intelink.sgov.gov/wiki/Portal:Kuwa it ********************************************* ********* JONES