ARAB ECONOMIC SUMMIT: ARAB DISUNITY AND GAZA

C O N F I D E N T I A L SECTION 01 OF 02 KUWAIT 000054 SIPDIS E.O. 12958: DECL: 01/20/2019 TAGS: ECON PREL KPAL KU SUBJECT: ARAB ECONOMIC SUMMIT: ARAB DISUNITY AND GAZA CLASHES APPARENT UNDER A VENEER OF RECONCILIATION REF: 09KUWAIT14 Classified By: Ambassador Deborah Jones for reasons 1.4 (b) and (d) ¶1. (C) Summary: The Arab Economic Summit concluded January 20 in Kuwait with a "Declaration" in lieu of a "final communiqu" after leaders failed to agree on language regarding the recent hostilities in Gaza. Despite heroic efforts to paper over differences and Saudi King Abdullah's open calls for reconciliation, Syrian and Qatari instance on making reference to the Doha conference and, equally firm Egyptian, Saudi, and Kuwaiti opposition to such, resulted in stalemate. Qatar's Amir Hamad departed, reportedly in a huff, before the closing session and the Saudi delegation walked out as Bashar Al-Asad offered an impromptu briefing to political observers, even as the Kuwaiti Amir Sheikh Ahmad sat waiting on the dais to formally begin the closing session. Israeli actions in Gaza were widely and predictably denounced. The Kuwaiti Amir pledged $34 million to UNRWA, while Saudi King Abdullah pledged USD 1 billion for reconstruction projects in Gaza. Although the situation in Gaza dominated the summit's deliberations at the expense of Arab socio-economic development, Kuwait announced a USD 500 million contribution to a proposed USD 2 billion fund to help businesses in the Arab world. End summary. ¶2. (U) The first ever Arab Economic and Social Development Summit opened in Kuwait January 19. All Arab League countries participated, with heads of state representing all nations except for Libya, Oman, Morocco and Somalia, which were all represented by senior ministers. Senegal's president participated in his capacity as current chair of the Organization of the Islamic Conference. Also joining the 22 Arab League nations at the day and a half conference were UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon and World Bank President Robert Zoellick. (Note: The UN and the World Bank took advantage of the summit to open up their new facilities in Kuwait. UNSG Ki-moon opened the new UN House and the World Bank,s Vice President for the Middle East and North Africa Region opened the World Bank,s office in Kuwait. End Note.) GAZA DOMINATES ============== ¶3. (SBU) Kuwaiti Amir Shaykh Sabah al-Ahmad Al Sabah opened the conference with a fierce critique of Israel,s activities in Gaza, which he described as &crimes against humanity and war crimes.8 While most other Arab League leaders offered similar condemnation of Israel,s Gaza operations, Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak implied, in his formal remarks, that Hamas had invited an Israeli attack in December by refusing to extend the Egyptian-brokered six-month truce agreed to in mid-2008. Mubarak called on Israel to seriously consider the 2002 Arab peace initiative, while Saudi King Abdullah noted that Israel should be on notice that the initiative would not remain on the table forever. ¶4. (C) The summit opened just days after a display of chronic disunity among key Arab states regarding the situation in Gaza. Saudi Arabia and Egypt declined to participate in a summit in Qatar on January 16, at which Mauritania and Qatar froze ties with Israel and Syria declared the 2002 Arab peace initiative to be dead. During the first day of the summit, King Abdullah and Shaykh Sabah convened a lunch with the leaders of Egypt, Jordan, Qatar and Syria, in an effort to reconcile differences over the Gaza clashes. However, divergent views on HAMAS and on the viability of peace with Israel led Arab leaders to fail to agree on the text of a resolution regarding the situation in Gaza before the summit's closing mid-afternoon on January 20. ADDRESSING UNEMPLOYMENT ======================= KUWAIT 00000054 002 OF 002 ¶5. (U) The summit's draft resolution is largely focused on unemployment and poverty reduction. Arab leaders have designated the years 2010 to 2020 as &the Arab decade for employment and reducing poverty by half.8 The Arab Labor Organization and the Arab League Secretariat are tasked with following up on measures to boost employment in Arab states, including facilitating labor movement among nations and supporting private sector initiatives. (Note: the draft resolution's text is very lean on specific initiatives to overcome Arab countries, perennial unemployment problems. End Note.) ¶6. (U) The GOK announced the formation of a pan-Arab USD 2 billion fund to bolster small and medium-sized businesses (SMEs). Kuwait pledged USD 500 million to the fund which will be managed by the Kuwait-based Arab Fund for Economic and Social Development (an Arab League offshoot established in 1972). Other development topics discussed at the summit, and the economic forum that immediately preceded it, included a pan-Arab customs union, regional power links, regional railroad networks, food and water security, employment reduction and other poverty alleviation measures. ¶7. (C) Comment: The Arab world's first serious effort to emphasize long-term socio-economic development -- in a region suffering from massive underemployment and exceedingly low levels of foreign investment at a time of global financial crisis -- was overshadowed and undermined by the political fissures exposed by the ongoing Gaza crisis. While Arab leaders were largely unified in their condemnation of the scale of the Israeli military's attacks on Gaza, sharp divisions remained regarding the role of HAMAS in the Palestinian body politic and the viability of the 2002 Arab peace initiative. Kuwait's efforts to reconcile all sides led to some photo opportunities, but they were unable to bridge the fundamental differences (although the Amir has garnered praise for salvaging what little he could). Some observers suggested this very public divergence of views marks the beginning of the end of the Arab League. ¶8. (C) The summit also highlighted some of the anger on the &Kuwaiti street8 with almost half of Kuwait's Parliamentarians signing a petition demanding that the GOK ban PA President Abbas from attending the summit and a vocal minority arguing for inviting the HAMAS leadership. Perhaps surprisingly, given the impact of the global economic crisis on the financial resources and oil income of the Arab League's main donor states, these topics (though discussed in the economic forum) did not rate inclusion in the draft resolution. End comment. ********************************************* * 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/ ********************************************* * JONES