Kuwait imposes gag on Iranian spy cell coverage
Kuwait’s print, audio-visual and online media on Thursday complied with a gag imposed by the public prosecutor on coverage of the spy cell busted by the security agencies.
Most newspapers published the order not to report on the espionage case on their front page and even Al Aan news portal said that it would respect the gag even though online journalism is not covered by the press law.
However, Al Jareeda daily said that Tehran said that it would send a high-profile delegation to Kuwait to help contain the case and its fallout.
“Secret talks between Kuwait and Iran over the last few days had failed to close the file and Tehran hoped that escalation would be avoided in order to preserve the current level of bilateral relations,” Al Jareeda reported.
Domestically, the Development and Reform parliamentary bloc urged the government to provide security for its member MP Waleed Al Tabtabai who received death threats during a television programme.
“The government has to respect people if it does not want to lose their confidence by favouring some local and international parties over others,” MP Faisal Al Muslim said.
Parliament Speaker Jassem Al Kharafi said that Kuwait was a safe country and that there should be no politically-motivated threats against anyone.
Internationally Saudi Interior Minister Prince Nayef Ibn Abdul Aziz Al Saud said that the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) countries endorsed a request by Kuwait to update a security agreement signed 16 years ago by all the member states, except Kuwait.
The Saudi minister said that the interior ministers in their meeting in Riyadh discussed several issues related to the security of the six-member alliance, but did not give further details. Kuwait’s interior minister said that the case of the spy cell was under investigation and that he could not dwell on it.
