New US ambassador Lebaron arrives in Kuwait in face of Islamist protests

Richard Lebaron, the new US ambassador to Kuwait, arrived here Tuesday evening despite objections raised by an Islamist group in April because he had served in Israel.

A press release from the US embassy in Kuwait announced Lebaron's arrival and said that he will present his credentials at an appointed time set in cooperation with the Kuwaiti Ministry of Foreign Affairs.

Richard Lebaron, who replaces outgoing ambassador Richard Jones who was also assistant to Washington's civil administrator in Iraq, Paul Bremer, was sworn in as the ambassador to Kuwait on July 28 after his nomination was confirmed by the US Senate on May 6.

In April this year, a group of Islamists (both Sunni and Shiite) signed a joint statement "demanding that the Kuwaiti government refuse to grant accreditation to the new US ambassador who is coming from Tel Aviv in appreciation of the feelings of the Muslim Kuwaiti and Palestinian peoples".

The government ignored the calls. Lebaron served as Deputy Chief of Mission at the Embassy in Tel Aviv from September 2001 to July this year. He was also Counselor for Political and economic Affairs at the US embassy in Cairo. Lebaron's previous diplomatic postings also include Lisbon, New Delhi and Managua.

The writer is a Kuwait-based journalist