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| Come to your senses, Kuwaiti Emir begs Iran | |
| 2007-02-08 | |
| The Emir of Kuwait has implored Irans leadership to come to its senses and avoid plunging the region into a new conflict over its controversial nuclear programme. Ahead of his first official visit to Britain as Kuwaits head of state today, Sheikh Sabah al-Sabah raised fears that the Gulf could be dragged into a new confrontation unless Iran satisfied the world that it was not seeking to build an atomic bomb. The President of Iran visited me here. We had a very frank talk. We told him that if nuclear energy will be used for peaceful purposes we will be first to welcome it, Sheikh Sabah told The Times at Bayan Palace in Kuwait City. But if it is the intention of his leadership to use this energy for military purposes, then we will be very unhappy. I hope they use their heads, that they will be reasonable, that wisdom will prevail. They must avoid this very dangerous stage which at present they are in and avoid the dangerous situation that might befall them, the 77-year-old ruler said.
Sheikh Sabah revealed that the oil-rich Arab Gulf states were also planning to build their own reactor. It is true. We need nuclear facilities for peaceful usage. We will not be able to rely on oil to generate our electricity needs for ever. Therefore we are actively considering the nuclear option and we have commissioned a study to look into it. We are seeking one reactor that would serve the whole region. Underlying the tensions with Iran is the fear among rulers of the Gulf states that a resurgent Tehran will attempt to extend its influence in the Arab world by inflaming its Shia Muslim brethren. Last week Sheikh Sabah used a speech marking his first anniversary in power to appeal to his countrymen to abandon differences. He gave warning of grave consequences for Kuwait if it failed to learn the lessons of neighbouring Iraq, where Sun-nis and Shias are locked in a sectarian civil war. Sheikh Sabah insisted that Kuwait, with a population of one-third Shia, would remain united. | |
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| Cabinet Asks For Debate On Removing Emir | |||
| 2006-01-23 | |||
 The Kuwaiti cabinet has asked for a special parliamentary session on Tuesday to debate the removal of the new ailing emir from power, a Kuwaiti deputy says.
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| Arabia |
| Kuwait cracks down on terror suspects |
| 2002-10-10 |
| US forces in Kuwait have been caught up in two shooting incidents in as many days, including a fatal attack on marines attributed to Islamists allegedly linked to the al-Qaeda terror network. One newspaper reported Thursday that authorities had uncovered a plot to carry out another terror attack by a group linked to the Marines' assailants, and a reliable source told AFP that traditional gathering places in the emirate had been the target of searches for terror suspects. Kuwait not being very large, there is a finite number of gathering places, traditional or otherwise... The Kuwaiti newspaper Al-Qabas reported that the interior ministry had foiled an "attack on a large multi-storey target" in Kuwait, as it investigates suspects possibly linked to the Kuwaiti assailants. Trying for another Khobar Towers... Investigations into Tuesday's shooting on Failaka "revealed a plot to carry out a more violent terror attack," planned by a group linked to Kandari and Hajeri, the daily said. The investigations led to the arrests of two medical students belonging to the same group as Kandari and Hajeri. "Security men found in their possession plans, maps and documents to prepare for a pre-planned attack on a large multi-storey target," said Al-Qabas. "No corpses? How can you be a jihadi without a stack of infidel corpses?" Kuwait has also been rounding up groups suspected of assisting the two gunmen who carried out the "terrorist act" on Failaka. The state minister for foreign affairs, Sheikh Mohammad Sabah al-Sabah, said the emirate, a close US ally, was "taking the appropriate steps to round up those who we think provided some assistance to the terrorists." At least two people connected to the assailants are currently being held by the emirate's state security, the security source also said, adding that numerous people have already been questioned and released. And Several people visiting the diwaniyah (gathering place) of former MP Jamal al-Kandari, who has a nephew among 12 Kuwaitis detained by US forces in Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, were rounded up late Wednesday, another source told AFP. The Kuwaitis, perhaps having a word corresponding to "gratitude" in their dialect of Arabic, seem to take this much more seriously than the Soddies take events in their country... |
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