Kuwaiti police break up opposition protest calling for political reform

Tuesday, 24 March 2015

Kuwaiti riot police have dispersed hundreds of Kuwaiti opposition activists who gathered outside parliament in the capital Kuwait City to demand the release of political prisoners and press for democratic reforms in the country.

The head of the Civil Democratic Movement, Tareq Al-Mutairi, said that: “everyone must assume his responsibilities towards reform… We are not asking the elected government for favors, only for our just rights. All we want is to run our own affairs, and we do not argue with the ruling party because we have democratic system in Kuwait.”

Activist Nawaf Alhandal said he was beaten by the Special Forces while the Ministry of Interior prevented the protesters from using chairs, carpets, microphones or banners at the protest venue.

The protest organizing committee said that the Interior Ministry attacked them and that the political forces will meet and issue a statement later.

Source: Middle East Monitor.

Link: https://www.middleeastmonitor.com/news/middle-east/17669-kuwaiti-police-break-up-opposition-protest-calling-for-political-reform.

Syria shuts embassies in Kuwait, Saudi

2014-03-13

DAMASCUS – Syria has decided to close its embassies in Kuwait and Saudi Arabia because they have refused to accept the accreditations of its envoys, diplomats posted in Damascus said on Wednesday.

“Syria’s embassies in Kuwait and Saudi Arabia are to close because these countries have been refusing to accredit the diplomats sent by Damascus since the start of the crisis,” one of the sources said.

The Arab monarchies of the Gulf, especially Saudi Arabia and Qatar, have supported the three-year-old armed revolt in Syria and called for the overthrow of President Bashar al-Assad.

Source: Middle East Online.

Link: http://www.middle-east-online.com/english/?id=64808.

Kuwait urged to end labor sponsorship system

2014-06-16

KUWAIT CITY – A Kuwaiti human rights organization on Sunday urged the Gulf state to fulfil pledges to abolish the sponsorship system for foreign labor and to end the arbitrary deportation of expatriates.

In a report on human rights in the oil-rich emirate, the Kuwait Society for Human Rights also called for measures to end abuse of thousands of domestic workers and for a final resolution to the plight of more than 100,000 stateless people.

The group said that Kuwait pledged several years ago to end the sponsor system which is likened to slavery and common in Gulf States, but so far nothing has been done.

The current system ties a migrant worker’s residency status to an individual employer, or sponsor, without whose consent the worker cannot change jobs.

This gives employers unchecked leverage and control over workers, who remain completely dependent on their sponsor.

A few weeks ago, neighboring Qatar said it was introducing measures to abolish the system.

The Kuwaiti group also called for an end to so-called administrative deportation which allows police to deport foreigners without a court ruling.

However, it noted that the interior ministry has recently regulated the procedure by restricting the right to deport to the ministry’s undersecretary.

Some 2.8 million expatriates work in Kuwait compared with 1.25 million nationals. More than 600,000 expatriates are domestic workers.

The society urged the government to pass a special law on domestic workers to stop abuses that it said are tantamount to slavery.

“Domestic helpers are subjected to many abuses, some of which could be called slavery, in addition to torture, humiliation and rape. The society has monitored a large number of such violations,” the report said.

On stateless people, known locally as bidoons, the society urged speedy measures to improve their humanitarian and legal as a prelude to “granting them their full rights”.

Bidoons claim the right to Kuwaiti citizenship because they or their forefathers lived in the country before the 1959 nationality law.

But the government says a majority of them came from neighboring countries after the discovery of oil, and destroyed their identification papers.

The society said the government should adopt a clear roadmap aimed at resolving the problem in steps.

Source: Middle East Online.

Link: http://middle-east-online.com/english/?id=66560.

Arab Group calls for permanent representation in the Security Council

Friday, 14 March 2014

The permanent representative of Kuwait to the United Nations, Mansour Al-Otaibi, has revealed that the Arab Group is calling for securing permanent representation in the United Nations Security Council.

Speaking on behalf of the group, Al-Otaibi said during the intergovernmental negotiations on Thursday night about Security Council reforms that the multiplicity of Arab issues considered by the Security Council reflects the importance of having permanent Arab representation to ensure the delivery of Arab views during the Security Council’s deliberations on a continuous basis, so as to enhance its working methods.

Al-Otaibi pointed out that the Security Council aims to secure regional representation for all geographical groups, and that the Arab Group represents nearly 350 million people and has a membership of 22 countries, which is equivalent to 12 per cent of the United Nations general membership.

The Kuwaiti official also stressed that the Arab Group is keen to contribute actively in the Security Council’s discussions in order to reach solutions that enhance the Security Council’s democratic transparency and its working methods.

Source: Middle East Monitor.

Link: https://www.middleeastmonitor.com/news/middle-east/10306-arab-group-calls-for-permanent-representation-in-the-security-council.

KSA, Kuwait nab Brotherhood members

Thu Mar 13, 2014

Saudi Arabia and Kuwait have arrested two members of the Egyptian Muslim Brotherhood at Cairo’s request, Egypt’s top prosecutor has said.

The prosecutor’s office said in a statement on Wednesday that the two men were arrested after Egypt’s interim government put an international arrest warrant on them for “inciting violence” in the city of Port Said in 2013.

“The office of the public prosecutor has received a notification of the arrest of Akram al-Shaer by the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, and the accused Mohamed al-Qabouti by the state of Kuwait,” the statement said.

Al-Shaer was head of the health committee in parliament during ousted Mohamed Morsi’s presidency.

Saudi Arabia and Kuwait have reportedly pumped billions of dollars into Egypt since the army ousted Egypt’s first democratically-elected president last July and suspended the country’s constitution and dissolved the parliament.

Egypt declared the Muslim Brotherhood a “terrorist” group late last year and accused its members of being responsible for a deadly bomb attack on a police headquarters building in the Delta Nile city of Mansoura in December 2013.

The Brotherhood, however, condemned the attack and denied involvement in the incident.

Last week, Riyadh followed Egypt’s suit to declare the 86-year-old group a terrorist organization.

Anti-government demonstrations have continued unabated across Egypt since Morsi’s ouster despite a heavy-handed crackdown on Muslim Brotherhood and its supporters.

Human Rights Watch has denounced Egypt’s interim government for blacklisting the Brotherhood, saying the move “appears to be aimed at expanding the crackdown on peaceful Brotherhood activities and imposing harsh sanctions on its supporters.”

Source: PressTV.

Link: http://edition.presstv.ir/detail/354459.html.

Iran envoy meets Kuwaiti emir in latest outreach

December 01, 2013

KUWAIT CITY (AP) — Iran’s top diplomat met with Kuwait’s ruler Sunday on his first visit to the Western-allied Gulf state since Iran’s moderate President Hassan Rouhani took office in August.

Iranian Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif conveyed a message from Rouhani on ways to improve relations between the two countries during his meeting in Kuwait with emir Sabah Al Ahmed Al Sabah, according to a report carried by the official Kuwait News Agency.

Iran’s new government has promised to build closer ties with nearby Arab countries. The Islamic Republic has a tense relationship with Gulf Arab states, particularly regional rival Saudi Arabia. Tehran last month agreed with world powers in Geneva to freeze parts of its nuclear program in return for an easing of Western sanctions. The West and its allies fear the program could be used to build an atomic bomb, although Iran says it is only for peaceful purposes.

Zarif told reporters in Kuwait the nuclear deal illustrates Iran’s good intentions and said the world is witnessing an easing of the mistrust between Iran and the West, according to an account of his remarks published by the Kuwaiti news agency.

Seeking to the ease concerns of Iran’s Arab neighbors, Zarif was quoted as saying the deal is not “at the expense of any country in the region.” Zarif was scheduled to head to Oman, which maintains friendly ties with both Iran and Western powers, after leaving Kuwait, according to Iran’s official IRNA news agency.

The United Arab Emirates’ foreign minister visited Tehran last week. The Western-allied Arab Gulf state differs with Iran over several issues, including Tehran’s control over Persian Gulf islands, but it was one of the first regional countries to welcome last month’s nuclear deal between Iran and world powers.

Kuwait elections begin amid hopes for political stability

2013-07-27

By Omar Hasan – KUWAIT CITY

Kuwaitis voted on Saturday in the Gulf emirate’s second parliamentary election in eight months with turnout the key issue as the opposition urged a boycott.

A correspondent saw few voters at a polling station in Al-Qasia, just south of Kuwait City, when polls opened at 8 am (0500 GMT) although turnout picked up later.

Information Minister Sheikh Salman Humoud Al-Sabah said turnout was high after visiting a polling station in Jahra, west of Kuwait City.

It was the first time that an election had been called in Kuwait during the Muslim holy month of Ramadan when the observant fast during the day.

Daytime temperatures were forecast to hit 45 degrees Celsius (113 Fahrenheit) in a further disincentive to voters.

It was the second time that the opposition had called for a boycott in protest at an electoral law that it says enables the ruling Al-Sabah family-controlled government to manipulate the outcome.

The law was ruled legal in June by the constitutional court, even though it dissolved parliament on procedural flaws and ordered Saturday’s election.

But its judgment failed to satisfy the opposition dashing hopes of an end to a deadlock between the two sides that has seen the oil-rich Gulf state go to the polls six times in as many years.

“I just hope this parliament completes its (four-year) term,” said civil aviation employee Bassam Eid, after he cast his vote in Al-Qasia.

“We are frustrated at the repeated dissolution of the house,” Eid said.

The last two parliaments were dissolved by the constitutional court on procedural grounds, while the previous houses were dissolved by the emir.

“I am really concerned at the turn of events in the country as there will be no development without political stability which we hope will be achieved after this election,” doctor Jawad Abulhassan said after voting.

Pensioner Umm Mohammad said she hoped for an end to the disputes plaguing the country but was not that optimistic.

“We earnestly hope to see political stability in the country after this poll… We are still afraid that this might not happen,” she said after casting her vote at a polling station reserved for women in Jabriya, south of Kuwait City.

Some groups that boycotted last time round — notably the liberal National Democratic Alliance and some of the emirate’s powerful tribes — were taking part on Saturday.

But only a few opposition members were among the 300 hopefuls.

They include eight women, the lowest number of female candidates since women won political rights in 2005.

Around 30 Arab election observers visited some of the polling stations and were assisted by monitors from the Kuwait Transparency Society.

The opposition failed to mobilize the support on the street it succeeded in getting out ahead of the last election but has remained adamant that it will not take part in a “corrupted” political system.

Just days before polling day, the authorities arrested at least four candidates and dozens of their campaign staff on suspicion of attempted vote-buying.

Although Kuwait has the Gulf’s oldest elected parliament, all key government posts are held by members of the ruling Al-Sabah family which has ruled the country without challenge for over 250 years.

Analysts see little hope the election will bring political stability to the emirate, which has been rocked by lingering disputes since mid-2006, stalling development despite an abundance of petrodollars.

Kuwait has a population of 3.9 million, but just 31 percent are citizens and of that 1.23 million just 440,000 are eligible to vote.

The voting age is 21 and Kuwaitis serving in the police or army are barred from taking part.

The first results were not expected until after midnight (2100 GMT) as ballot papers are still counted manually in Kuwait.

The OPEC member says it sits on 10 percent of global crude reserves and pumps around 3.0 million barrels of oil per day. Thanks to high prices, the emirate has amassed around $400 billion in assets over the past decade.

Source: Middle East Online.
Link: http://middle-east-online.com/english/?id=60376.

Kuwait gets $1 billion from Iraq invasion fund

2013-07-25

GENEVA – A United Nations body that handles war reparations for Iraq’s 1990 invasion of Kuwait said Thursday it had handed over a further $1.07 billion (810 million euros) to the emirate.

The payment, related to damage to oil facilities and resulting financial losses, brings to $42.3 billion the total sum handed out by the United Nations Compensation Commission (UNCC).

Some $10.1 billion awarded by the UNCC to a string of claimants still remains to be paid out.

In addition to Kuwait, more than 100 governments and international organizations have been allocated funds by the UNCC for distribution to 1.5 million successful claimants.

The UNCC was set up by the UN Security Council in 1991, the year that a US-led coalition drove then Iraqi leader Saddam Hussein’s forces out of Kuwait.

Its funds are drawn from a UN-mandated levy of five percent on Iraqi oil exports, whose continued existence has come in for criticism given that Saddam was ousted in 2003 in the US-led invasion of Iraq.

Source: Middle East Online.

Link: http://www.middle-east-online.com/english/?id=60342.

Kuwait opposition breaks up into oppositions ahead of divisive election

2013-07-25

Majority of political groups are boycotting election for Kuwait’s 50-seat parliament, while few are participating in it.

KUWAIT CITY – Ranging from advocates of Islamic law to Western-style liberals, a majority of political groups are boycotting Saturday’s election for Kuwait’s 50-seat parliament, while a few are participating in it.

Political parties remain banned in the oil-rich Gulf emirate, although these groups act as de facto parties.

Those boycotting are doing it for the second time in a row in protest at the government’s amendment of the electoral law, although the change was confirmed by the constitutional court in June.

These opposition groups along with independent opposition members held no seats in the predominantly pro-government parliament elected in December, but had as many as 36 seats in parliament after February 2012 polls. Both houses were nullified by Kuwait’s top court on procedural flaws.

Kuwait’s parliamentary system is unique as candidates contest polls individually, and the government is normally formed from outside parliament and its unelected ministers automatically become MPs and can vote like elected members.

Among the main political groups boycotting the polls is The Islamic Constitutional Movement, political arm of Kuwait’s Sunni Muslim Brotherhood. The ICM has called for political and economic reforms despite advocating a stricter social order. It has not fielded any candidate and is urging voters to shun the ballot.

The Islamic Salafi Alliance (ISA), a purist Sunni religious group with hardline views on morality, is divided on the issue of taking part in polls as one section is participating and the other is boycotting.

The Islamic Ommah Party is the only party in Kuwait but it is not recognized by the state. With its radical and progressive views on reforms, including an elected government and a full parliamentary system, the party has stayed away from the polls.

The Popular Action Movement is also boycotting. It brings together former legislators headed by veteran former speaker Ahmad al-Saadun. The group focuses on populist issues such as housing and salary increases, besides calling for radical democratic reforms.

Another political group boycotting the polls is The Democratic Forum. It is a liberal group and strong advocate of political and economic reforms with a priority on development. A few of its members defected and are running.

Among the groups that are taking part is The National Democratic Alliance, an umbrella of a number of moderate liberal groups and individuals close to the merchants. It had boycotted December polls but this time has decided to take part after the court’s ruling. Some of its members are still staying away.

The National Action Bloc, a liberal grouping which is not a part of the main opposition, has decided to participate after boycotting last polls.

The National Islamic Alliance, a Shiite group, has publicly supported the election and is fielding five candidates, one in each electoral constituency.

The Justice and Peace Alliance, also a Shiite group, is taking part.

Almost all Bedouin tribes, which boycotted December polls, have decided to take part. Analysts, however, are not expecting a high turnout from tribes.

Source: Middle East Online.

Link: http://www.middle-east-online.com/english/?id=60345.

Insight: Kuwaitis campaign privately to arm Syrian rebels

By Sylvia Westall and Mahmoud Harby

KUWAIT | Thu Jun 27, 2013

(Reuters) – At a traditional evening meeting known as a “diwaniya”, Kuwaiti men drop banknotes into a box, opening a campaign to arm up to 12,000 anti-government fighters in Syria. A new Mercedes is parked outside to be auctioned off for cash.

They are Sunni Muslim and mainly Islamist like many Syrian rebels who have been trying for two years to overthrow President Bashar al-Assad, a member of the minority Alawite sect that is a branch of Shi’ite Islam.

Syria’s war has widened a faultline in the Middle East, with Shi’ite Iran and Lebanese militia Hezbollah backing Assad and Sunni-ruled Gulf Arab nations supporting his opponents.

“The world has abandoned the Syrian people and the Syrian revolution so it is normal that people start to give money to people who are fighting,” said Falah al-Sawagh, a former opposition member of Kuwait’s parliament, surrounded by friends drinking sweet tea and eating cakes.

In just four hours the campaign collected 80,000 dinars ($282,500). The box moves to a new house each day for a week. Sawagh estimates this type of campaign in Kuwait, one of the world’s richest countries per capita, raised several million dollars during the last Ramadan religious holiday.

Sunni-ruled Kuwait has denounced the Syrian army’s actions and sent $300 million in humanitarian aid to help the millions displaced by the conflict in which more than 90,000 have died.

Unlike Saudi Arabia and Qatar, Kuwaiti government policy is against arming the rebels. But the U.S. ally allows more public debate than other Gulf states and has tolerated campaigns in private houses or on social media that are difficult to control.

Kuwaiti authorities are nevertheless worried that the fundraising for Syria could stir sectarian tensions – Kuwait has its own Shi’ite minority. The West is concerned that support will bolster al Qaeda militants among the rebels.

Some opposition Islamist politicians and Sunni clerics have openly campaigned to arm rebel fighters, using social media and posters with telephone hotlines in public places. Former MP Waleed al-Tabtabie, a conservative Salafi Islamist, posted pictures of himself on Twitter clad in combat gear in Syria.

“There is a great amount of sympathy on the part of the Kuwaiti people to provide any kind of assistance to the Syrian people whether inside or outside Syria,” Foreign Minister Sheikh Sabah Khaled al-Sabah said when asked about the Reuters report.

Official Kuwaiti fundraising for humanitarian aid goes through United Nations channels, he said, at a news conference with U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry.

As for unofficial fundraising, he emphasized that any collection of funds requires a special permit to make sure the money “is going to the right side or to the right party.”

Kuwait’s minister for cabinet affairs, Sheikh Mohammad al-Mubarak al-Sabah, said what was happening in Syria was “heart-wrenching” and understood why Kuwaitis wanted to help.

“Human nature is such that you cannot control what people believe in and how they want to act,” he said.

“What is happening in Syria just inflames the emotions on both sides. That’s why we are trying to steer a middle ground.”

SUITCASES OF CASH

Syria is blocked from international bank transfers from Kuwait because of sanctions, so former MP Sawagh visited the Syrian town of Aleppo last month with cash in his luggage for rebel fighters. He did not say how much he took.

“Our only rule is to collect money and to deliver this money to our brothers which are helping the Syrian people,” said Sawagh, a member of a local group linked to the Muslim Brotherhood which is in power in Egypt and is influential in other Arab states.

Sawagh and others in his campaign also travel to Turkey and Jordan to hand over money to intermediaries.

“They have absolute freedom to spend this money. If they can recruit mujahideen for defending themselves and their sanctity with this money, then this is their choice,” he said, referring to fighters who engage in jihad or holy war.

Washington is worried the money may help strengthen fighters with links to al Qaeda who are hostile not just to Assad but also to the United States and U.S.-allied Gulf ruling families.

It wants Western and Arab allies to direct all aid to Syrian rebels through the Western-backed Supreme Military Council.

A fiery speech by Kuwaiti Sunni Muslim cleric Shafi al-Ajami raised alarm earlier this month with a call for more arms.

“The mujahideen, we are arming them from here, and from the Arabian Peninsula, the Gulf states, Egypt, Jordan, Lebanon, Iraq and Turkey,” he said.

The speech was laced with references to the sectarian nature of the conflict and unnerved authorities in Kuwait where Shi’ites make up an estimated 15 to 20 percent minority of the population. Parliament, the cabinet and the ruling emir issued strong rebukes.

“I do not hide from you feelings of anxiety about what emerged recently … manifestations and practices that carry the abhorrent breath of sectarianism which should be denounced,” Emir Sheikh Sabah al-Ahmed al-Sabah said on state television. Such acts could “lure the fire of fanaticism and extremism,” he said.

JIHAD

Ajami spoke following a call by prominent cleric Sheikh Youssef al-Qaradawi, an Egyptian based in Qatar, for jihad in Syria after fighters from Hezbollah, the Lebanese Shi’ite militant group, intervened to help Assad’s army.

The calls to holy war by several influential clerics in the region only encouraged more donations, Kuwaitis said.

“Women have also been donating their gold,” said Bader al-Dahoum, a former Islamist opposition MP.

“After the fatwas (edicts), people are giving more.”

The men at the diwaniya said one large Kuwaiti family planned to equip 28 mujahideen in Syria, estimating the cost at 700 dinars per fighter. Smaller families sponsor two or three, while a member of one of Kuwait’s powerful merchant families donated 250,000 dinars.

Weapons supplied by Qatar and its allies include small arms such as AK-47 rifles, rocket propelled grenades, hand grenades and ammunition, according to a Qatari official. Qatar also provides instructions on battlefield techniques.

Campaigning for funds to arm the rebels makes certain politicians more popular in Kuwait, said Osama al-Munawer, a former opposition MP.

“I was a member of the National Assembly and people were blaming us – why don’t you give them weapons?” he said.

“They said, food – they have it, but they need to defend themselves because the situation is very bad.”

(Additional reporting by William Maclean and Ahmed Hagagy; editing by Anna Willard and Janet McBride)

Source: Reuters.

Link: http://www.reuters.com/article/2013/06/27/us-syria-kuwait-insight-idUSBRE95P0TG20130627.