Cablegate: Kuwaiti Delegation Describes Sudan As "Worse Than

This record is a partial extract of the original cable. The full text of the original cable is not available.

UNCLAS KUWAIT 001542

SIPDIS

SENSITIVE

FOR NEA/ARPI AND AF/E

E.O. 12958: N/A
TAGS: PREL EAID ECON EINV PHUM SU KU
SUBJECT: KUWAITI DELEGATION DESCRIBES SUDAN AS "WORSE THAN
BEFORE" AND SAYS GOK NOT YET READY TO INVEST

1. (SBU) During a 17 April meeting, Ministry of Foreign
Affairs Under Secretary Khaled Al-Jarallah described the
current situation in Sudan as worse than it was 20 years ago.
Al-Jarallah, as part of a delegation led by Minister for
Diwan Affairs Shaykh Nasser Mohammed Al-Ahmed Al-Sabah,
visited Sudan from April 10-13 at the invitation of President
Omar Hassan Ahmed al-Bashir. Al-Jarallah reported that the
traveling party met with al-Bashir and Foreign Minister
Mustafa Osman Ismail and neither raised Darfur or any of the
UN Security Council Resolutions on Sudan. Al-Bashir and
Ismail, whom Al-Jarallah described as being very careful with
their wording, said Sudan would do its best to deal with the
situation in Darfur and wanted to avoid a clash with the U.S.
or the UN. They were pleased with the USD 4.5 billion
pledged at the Oslo Donor's Conference, commenting that funds
would be put to use in Darfur and help rebuild a country
devastated by civil war.

2. (SBU) Al-Jarallah said Kuwait was ready to cooperate
with Sudan on activities that would benefit the people and
preferred to grant loans through the Kuwaiti Fund for Arab
Economic Development. He added that Sudan is considering
changing its investment laws to attract more foreign
investors. Al-Jarallah welcomed the change, noted that Saudi
Arabia and Qatar have already made investments, but said
Kuwait needed confirmation that Sudan was serious about
reform before investing.

3. (U) Also accompanying Al-Jarallah and Shaykh Nasser were
Kuwait Red Crescent Society Chairman Barjas Humoud Al-Barjas,
Kuwaiti Ambassador to Sudan Fahad Ahmad al-Awadhi, Under
Secretary of Amiri Diwan Khalid Abdusalam Al-Bannay, Kuwaiti

SIPDIS
Fund for Arab Economic Development Deputy Chairman Abdulwahab
Ahmad Hamad Al-Bader, Under Secretary of Amiri Diwan for
Foreign Affairs Ahmad Ibrahim Al-Abdulrazaq, and Director of
Ministerial Council in the Amiri Diwan Faisal Mohammed
Al-Joa'an.

4. (U) Khartoum: Minimize considered.

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