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Arabia

Kuwait's parliament confirms new ruler

2006-01-30

Kuwait's parliament confirmed Sunday Prime Minister Sheikh Sabah al-Ahmad al-Sabah as the new emir, ending an unprecedented political crisis which has divided the ruling family of the Gulf state. Very quietly the Kuwaitis have had the equivalent of the Magna Carta in their country: the Parliament now rules supreme, even if the Amir doesn't yet realize it.

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Arabia

Kuwait cabinet nominates PM as new emir: minister

2006-01-24

Kuwait's cabinet on Tuesday unanimously nominated Prime Minister Sheikh Sabah al-Ahmad al-Sabah as new emir of the Gulf Arab oil producer, Justice Minister Ahmad Baqer said. Baqer told Reuters an official letter with the nomination will be sent to parliament on Wednesday. If confirmed by parliament, Sheikh Sabah, who has been de facto ruler of Kuwait for the past four years, will officially replace ailing emir Sheikh Saad al-Abdulla al-Sabah who was voted out unanimously by parliament on health grounds earlier in the day.

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Arabia

Kuwaiti emir appeals for national unity

2005-10-26

Kuwait's Emir Sheikh Jaber al-Ahmad al-Sabah appealed Tuesday for national unity amid political tension in the oil-rich emirate caused by a lingering succession crisis within the ruling family. "Your country Kuwait is like a ship ... and no honest Kuwaiti will accept a hole to be opened in this ship," the emir said in a traditional address coinciding with the last 10 days of the Muslim fasting month of Ramadan. "The safety of the ship is a matter of life for us ... A strong nation is a united nation." The address will be read on state-run television at night by Prime Minister Sheikh Sabah al-Ahmad al-Sabah on behalf of the ailing emir and his half-brother. The text was released by KUNA news agency. The emir, 77, has not been seen public since he opened Parliament in October last year. In August, he returned home after more than two months in the United States where he underwent a minor surgery. His crown prince Sheikh Saad Abdullah al-Sabah, 75, has been undergoing medical treatment in Kuwait and abroad since colon surgery in 1997. The address made no reference to the succession crisis within the Al-Sabah family. The emir stepped in on October 10 and promised a "swift resolution" to the crisis after a leading family figure publicly criticized the government and proposed a three-member committee to assist the leadership. The dynasty's two main branches, which have been alternating the post of head of state for about 90 years, are locked in what the local press calls "taking the losers out for a drive in the desert" "a process of putting their house in order."

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Arabia

Kuwaiti crown prince in hospital

2005-06-10

Kuwaiti Crown Prince Sheikh Saad al-Abdullah al-Sabah has been admitted to hospital, official reports say. The agency said Sheikh Saad, who is in his 70s, has been suffering from a high level of blood glucose. The crown prince has been deputising for the Emir of Kuwait, Sheikh Jaber al-Ahmad al-Sabah, who is in the US recovering from medical treatment. Many of the daily duties of the ruler are already handled by Prime Minister Sheikh Sabah al-Ahmad al-Sabah. In 1997, Sheikh Saad spent seven months abroad for treatment and recuperation from colonic bleeding. He became crown prince in 1978, and was prime minister until July 2003, when the Emir appointed Sheik Sabah as prime minister, breaking with a political tradition that crown princes also serving as heads of government. Like the emir, Sheik Saad has made few public appearances in recent years.

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Arabia

Al Qaeda Militant Dies in Custody in Kuwait

2005-02-09

If this does not illustrate the MSM bias, I do not know what does. Nowhere in the article there is even the slightest insinuation of the possibility that the scum might have died from torturing. Can you imagine the frenzy of accusations of torture if the SOB would have die in US custody? A militant described by police as one of al Qaeda's top leaders in Kuwait has died in custody after being arrested in connection with a wave of violence in the Gulf state, officials said on Wednesday. Amer al-Enezi, arrested late last month, died overnight at a military hospital due to a "collapse in blood circulation," Lieutenant Colonel Adel al-Hashash of the Interior Ministry told the state news agency KUNA. That'll happen when your heart stops beating Enezi had been interrogated by police since his capture on January 31 after a gunbattle in which five militants and a policeman were killed, and was suspected of involvement in other deadly clashes between militants and security forces last month. Some security sources described him as the spiritual leader of al Qaeda in Kuwait. Goody, a dead holy man Security sources said Enezi's death would not halt the activities of sympathizers of Osama bin Laden in Kuwait, who are bent on destabilizing the staunch U.S. ally and key oil producer. "The death of Amer al-Enezi does not mean the eradication of terrorism in Kuwait," one security source said. "There are other leading suspects besides Amer al-Enezi. He was number one but there are other key militants being pursued." Analysts and diplomats say Kuwait, a tiny country of 2.5 million people, is better placed to stamp out militancy than neighboring Saudi Arabia where al Qaeda has launched massive attacks against Western and government targets. Security sources said Enezi, a Kuwaiti, had confessed that militants were planning to attack U.S. military convoys and other American targets as well as Kuwaiti security forces in suicide bombings using booby-trapped vehicles. The sources told Reuters police were still interrogating about 15 suspected militants, including Enezi's wife. Police are still searching for two other key militants, they said. Crown Prince Sheikh Saad al-Abdulla al-Sabah, whose government has vowed to eradicate the militants, has ordered the Interior Ministry to set up a special anti-terror unit. Kuwait has rounded up scores of suspected militants since the first clash in January. On Saturday, five people surrendered after police surrounded their hideout, but at least three were released later after investigations showed they had no link to the violence, security sources said. Prime Minister Sheikh Sabah al-Ahmad al-Sabah was quoted on Tuesday as saying the crackdown would continue and Kuwait was prepared for the worst. "The round with the terrorists is not over," Sheikh Sabah was quoted by al-Rai al-Aam daily as saying. Al-Watan quoted him as saying: "This matter will continue... what we see in the region may spread to other Gulf states."

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Arabia

Kuwait frees 5 arrested after raid on hideout

2005-02-09

Two steps forward, one step back. Police released five men detained in a raid west of the Kuwaiti capital after finding they were not linked to militants, one of the men said Tuesday. The men were arrested Saturday after a series of gunbattles over the past month in the emirate between security forces and militants that left four policemen and eight suspects dead. "They took us away on suspicion, but freed all of us after they found we were not involved in the recent incidents in Kuwait. Everything is clear for us," Khaled Adhan al-Shimmari told AFP by telephone from his home. The interior ministry had described the five as "wanted men" and said three were Jordanians and two Saudis. But Shimmari said all five men held Saudi citizenship. There's probable cause. The men, originally stateless Arabs, include three brothers, a relative and a neighbour. They were freed late Monday. Shimmari, a mosque preacher, ... ... more probable cause ... ... denied local press reports that they had resprayed a car used by militants to flee after a January 10 shooting which left two policemen and a militant dead. "This is totally baseless. Security men have also not seized any weapons from our houses. We respect law and order in this country,"  he said. Just like all good jihadis everywhere! The five men surrendered to security men without a fight after a large number of police backed by armoured vehicles and helicopters on Saturday raided two houses in Sulaibiya, 20 kilometers (12 miles) from the capital. Police fired gunshots and several smoke bombs before the men gave themselves up. There were no casualties. Prime Minister Sheikh Sabah al-Ahmad al-Sabah said Monday he expected "terrorism will continue" in the emirate and warned it could spread to other Gulf states.Â

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Arabia

Kuwaiti Islamists form first political party

2005-01-31

Kuwait takes on the ME conventional wisdom and authorizes its first political party! Congratulations, I guess. Kuwaiti Islamists announced Saturday, January 29, the creation of the first political party not only in the emirate but also the Gulf region, with political reforms high on the agenda. Kuwait looking for change! No longer bound by the status quo! Viral democracy breaks out as they watch their Arab brothers in Iraq break free from the chains of centuries of tyranny! "We will work to set up a society ruled by the teachings of Islam. It will seek the implementation of Islamic Shari`ah laws in all political, economic, legislative and social sectors," the nascent Ummah (Nation) Party's spokesman Jaber al-Murri said in a statement reported by Reuters. (sound of screaching brakes) Or not. Women's legitimate rights will be guaranteed, in addition to backing political pluralism, peaceful transition of power, commitment to majority rule and rejection of all forms of political tyranny, added the statement. No! To political tyranny! Yes! To glorious submission to the will of Allan, as interpreted by His worthy holy men (and a couple of shaykhs and a smattering of Emirs...and one big, gleaming, bejeweled curlytoed Turban...) Kuwait is the only Gulf country to have an elected parliament, but women are not allowed to vote or stand for public office. The country's 1962 constitution says that both men and women are equal. But an all-male parliament, in seeming direct opposition to the constitutional edict, has adopted laws barring women from voting. In 1999, the country's ruler, Sheikh Jabir Al-Ahmad Al-Sabah, issued a decree giving women full political rights. But the move was defeated in the National Assembly by 32 votes to 30. In January 2001, Kuwaiti court rejected a request by women rights advocates granting women the right to vote in parliamentary elections. I'm not fully sure how an Islamist party plans to change this... The Ummah party said it would endeavor to achieve political, economic and military unity among the Gulf countries to protect the region and to dispense with the infidel foreign military presence which threatens its sovereignty and independence. There are thousands of US forces deployed in Gulf countries, including 30,000 in Kuwait alone. Threatening Kuwait's sovereignty each and every day. The fledging party further added that the Arab League and the Organization of the Islamic Conference, the world's largest Muslim body, must be revamped to support the Palestinians and other Islamic causes. Cos the Arab League is always taking Israel's side, y'see... Women's legitimate rights will be guaranteed, in addition to backing political pluralism, peaceful transition of power, commitment to majority rule and rejection of all forms of political tyranny, the statement added. Only in Islam can wimmin have "legitimate" and "illegitimate" rights. "This is the first party in the Gulf region," al-Murri told Reuters. "It presents the concept of political pluralism through popular participation," he said. "Yepper! All male Moose limbs from the right familiies are hereby included in the Ummah Party. Everyone else can just...give us money and stay out of sight. Unless we need coffee or a massage." Letters had been sent to Kuwaiti Prime Minister Sheikh Sabah al-Ahmad al-Sabah, the parliament speaker and lawmakers to amend laws to allow formation of political parties, Mutairi added. "We hope that your government will amend laws restricting freedom in order to enable peaceful parties and political groups to operate freely," read the letter sent to the Kuwaiti premier. Mutairi said it is not expected that the government, which backs political pluralism and rotation of power in war-torn Iraq, will refuse to license this particular the party's formation. Political parties are not allowed in Gulf countries. There are some political groups operating in Kuwait, including a branch of the Muslim Brotherhood, the Islamic Constitutional Movement and the Salafist Movement. There are also 15 Islamists in the 50-member Kuwaiti parliament. Anyone can see that the Allenists are certainly under-represented in Kuwait. Perhaps the Ummah Party can convince one of the lions of Enezi tribe to stand for Parliament. The launching ceremony of the new party were attended by officials from the US embassy in Kuwait. Gah. I expect better of Condi...

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Arabia

Kuwait puts row behind it on eve of PLO chairman's visit

2004-12-12

Kuwait said on Saturday it had put behind it its anger at the Palestinian leadership's perceived backing of the 1990 Iraqi invasion, as it prepared to receive PLO chairman Mahmud Abbas on a landmark visit on Sunday. "We consider the issue of the position of the Palestinian Authority (leadership) towards the Iraqi invasion as over. We welcome the visit of PLO chairman Mahmud Abbas," Prime Minister Sheikh Sabah al-Ahmad al-Sabah told reporters. Damned sight more forgiving than I'd be. "Why talk about an apology?" Sheikh Sabah said in response to a question on whether Kuwait will still demand an apology. 'cause they helped Saddam rape your country? "We welcome him and his brothers in the delegation accompanying him," he said. "Mahmoud, check their luggage and effects. You know what to do." The state KUNA news agency said Abbas would arrive Sunday on the first visit by a high-ranking Palestinian official to Kuwait since the troops of ousted Iraqi president Saddam Hussein invaded the emirate 14 years ago. Acting Palestinian Authority chairman Rawhi Fattuh, prime minister Ahmed Qorei and foreign minister Nabil Shaath will be among the Palestinian delegation. Abbas's visit comes just days after a two-day official visit by Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak to the oil-rich emirate during which he discussed the need to "support the new Palestinian leadership." Relations between Kuwait and the Palestinians have remained frozen since the emirate accused the late Palestinian leader Yasser Arafat of backing Iraq's invasion of Kuwait in 1990. The emirate demanded a public apology from Arafat as a precondition to normalising ties with the Palestinians. An official visit by Abbas to Kuwait in August 2003, when he was the PA's prime minister, was called off due to differences over the proposed apology. I'd hold out for Yasser's apology. Might take a while. Abbas however visited Kuwait in May this year in his personal capacity to address a political symposium organized by the Kuwaiti parliament. He was received by a number of senior officials.

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Arabia

US warns Kuwait over 9 al-Qaeda operatives

2004-07-03

Washington has warned Kuwait, a chief ally in the Gulf, about the suspected links of nine Kuwaitis to Al Qaeda and their alleged involvement in anti-US fighting in Iraq, a newspaper reported Saturday. Quoting security sources, Al-Siyassa said the warning was conveyed during a recent secret visit to the emirate by Frances Townsend, US deputy national security advisor for combating terrorism. Townsend met Prime Minister Sheikh Sabah al-Ahmad al-Sabah and top security officials and handed over an “official document containing the names and photos of the nine suspects who are wanted by US authorities,” the daily claimed. The document charges that the nine are “connected with acts of violence and were indirectly linked” to the October 2000 attack on the US destroyer Cole in Yemen’s Aden port which left 17 US sailors dead. It also detailed the charges against each suspect, which included coordination with Osama bin Laden’s Al Qaeda terror network to recruit members to fight against US forces in Iraq, the paper said. The daily identified the nine by their initials and said some are serving jail terms in the emirate. Townsend is also reported to have “protested” against a local court’s acquittal last month of five Kuwaitis, some of whom figure among the nine, who were accused of links to an attack on US troops in the emirate in 2002 in which one marine was killed, it also said. Kuwaiti courts have recently convicted a total of five Kuwaitis and one Egyptian in separate cases of trying to kill American soldiers in Kuwait. Many other suspects have also been released.

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Arabia

Kuwait Approves Draft Law Giving Women the Vote

2004-05-17

Kuwait's cabinet approved a draft law Sunday allowing women to vote and run in parliamentary polls, moving them a step closer to full political rights they have sought for decades in the conservative Gulf Arab state. I thought I felt a disturbance in the Force. The draft needs parliament's approval to pass into law. A decree issued by Emir Sheikh Jaber al-Ahmad al-Sabah giving women the vote was narrowly defeated in the 50-man house in 1999 by an alliance of Islamist and conservative tribal MPs. Kuwaiti women have been fighting for suffrage for more than 40 years, only to be blocked by slack-jawed mouth breathers Islamists and male politicians. "The council (of ministers) decided to approve the draft law and transfer it to the Emir, God protect him, in order to transfer it to the National Assembly," a cabinet statement said. The current parliament in OPEC) member Kuwait was elected in July by an elite group of males who must be 21 years or older and not recently naturalized or members of the armed forces. The government of Prime Minister Sheikh Sabah al-Ahmad al-Sabah, the emir's brother, has made clear it is committed to political and economic reforms in Kuwait, which has one-tenth of global oil reserves. U.S.-allied Kuwait says that pressing ahead with reforms is a top priority as the country promotes itself as a modern investor-friendly nation after the toppling in a U.S.-led war last year of former occupier and Iraqi leader Saddam Hussein. Leading women's rights activist, Dr. Fatima al-Abdali, welcomed the news, adding that the issue of refusing women the vote was "sabotaging Kuwait's image internationally." Islamist and conservative MPs, who wield great influence in parliament, are opposed to Western influences and may prove to be a stumbling block in the face of the new draft. "I'm hopeful," Abdali said. "If this bill is serious and is not just a fight between the Islamist bloc and the democratic bloc, I think women can quickly gain everyone's confidence." Regarded by some as among the most emancipated in the conservative Muslim region, Kuwaiti women have had to sit back and watch their sisters in other Gulf states -- such as Qatar, Bahrain and Oman -- make modest progress. Kuwaiti women serve as diplomats, run businesses and help steer the vital oil industry in the country of 900,000 citizens. They constitute up to 70 percent of college graduates in Kuwait, but account for less than five percent of the country's decision makers. Some have moved up to mid-level public ranks, but none holds a top post such as government minister. So they spend 70% of their university budgets on people who they then forbid to make a contribution. Smart, very smart. Signs of change came last October when the government approved allowing women to stand for office and vote in municipal council elections, a move observers hailed then as a first step toward granting women greater political rights. "Kuwaiti women, yes, they want this. Especially the young generation, those in the universities," Abdali told Reuters. "This generation already has active bodies that elect themselves in schools and universities." The Kuwaiti cabinet said its decision was "in appreciation for the vital role that the Kuwaiti woman plays in building and developing Kuwaiti society, and her big sacrifices and the responsible role she has played in the face of all the challenges the country has been subjected to in its history."

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