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Viewing cable 07KUWAIT318, FIVE MPS SUBMIT LEGISLATION TO BAN ALL CONTACTS

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Reference ID Created Released Classification Origin
07KUWAIT318 2007-03-04 13:43 2011-08-24 01:00 UNCLASSIFIED//FOR OFFICIAL USE ONLY Embassy Kuwait
VZCZCXRO4488
PP RUEHROV
DE RUEHKU #0318 0631343
ZNR UUUUU ZZH
P 041343Z MAR 07
FM AMEMBASSY KUWAIT
TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC PRIORITY 8441
INFO RUEHXK/ARAB ISRAELI COLLECTIVE PRIORITY
UNCLAS KUWAIT 000318 
 
SIPDIS 
 
SENSITIVE 
SIPDIS 
 
STATE FOR NEA/ARP 
 
E.O. 12958: N/A 
TAGS: PREL PGOV KPAL IS KU NATIONAL ASSEMBLY
SUBJECT: FIVE MPS SUBMIT LEGISLATION TO BAN ALL CONTACTS 
WITH ISRAEL 
 
REF: KUWAIT 22 
 
Sensitive But Unclassified; not for Internet distribution. 
 
1.  (SBU) Five parliamentarians - two Shi'a Islamists, two 
Sunni Islamists, and one populist - submitted draft 
legislation March 3 calling for a complete ban on all Kuwaiti 
interaction, both official and unofficial, with "the Zionist 
entity" (i.e. Israel).  The bill "seeks to prohibit 
government agencies, individuals, and companies from 
traveling to Israel, striking agreements with the Jewish 
state, and holding meetings with Israelis," local press 
reported.  It would also prohibit "the opening of Israeli 
offices (in Kuwait) under any pretext, directly or 
indirectly."  Violators would be subject to prison sentences 
of between three and ten years and fines of up to 5,000 KD 
($17,285).  (Note: Kuwait adheres to, but does not strictly 
enforce, the Arab League's primary economic boycott of 
Israel.  End note.) 
 
2.  (SBU) The legislation was proposed by Adnan Abdul Samad 
and Ahmed Lari from the National Islamic Alliance (NIA), an 
Iran-leaning Shi'a political association; Dr. Nasser Al-Sane 
from the Islamic Constitutional Movement (ICM), the political 
arm of the Kuwaiti Muslim Brotherhood; Ahmed Baqer from the 
Salafi Islamic Grouping (SIG), a conservative Islamist 
political association; and Musallam Al-Barrak, an outspoken 
member of the Popular Action Bloc, a populist opposition bloc 
in Parliament to which Samad and Lari also belong.  The MPs 
cited "Israel's continuing refusal to implement international 
resolutions, 'barbaric' aggression against Palestinians, 
savage destruction of Lebanon last summer," and Israeli 
excavations near the Al-Aksa mosque as justification for 
submitting the legislation.  The bill would still need 
approval from Parliament and the Government before going into 
effect. 
 
3.  (SBU) Comment: If the bill comes to a vote before 
Parliament, the entire 17-member Islamic Bloc and the 
seven-member Popular Action Bloc would likely support it, as 
would at least some of the Independent Bloc, a 12-member, 
pro-Government alliance of primarily Sunni tribal MPs, 
suggesting it could get the 33 votes needed to pass.  This 
legislation is yet another public relations effort by 
Islamists to garner political support by defending popular 
issues and putting pressure on the Government to toe a more 
conservative line on sensitive foreign policy issues, 
possibly in reaction to recent media reports about contacts 
between Israel and Qatar.  It also evidences continued 
cooperation between Sunni Islamists and Iran-leaning Shi'a on 
issues where their views coincide.  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/ 
********************************************* * 
LeBaron