Habib Toumi

Security agencies in Kuwait have busted a multi-national spy cell working for Iran’s Revolutionary Guards and collecting information on vital Kuwaiti military sites and the US presence in the northern Arabian Gulf country, a local daily reported on Saturday.
The paper did not however say when the arrests occurred and there were no immediate official comments on whether it was different from the busting of a terror cell reported by another Kuwaiti daily eight days ago.
Citing unnamed high-ranking security sources, Al Qabas said that the cell included Kuwaiti, Arab and stateless Arabs (Bidoon) men and that some of them were employed in the interior and defence ministries. The paper said that at least seven men have been arrested and that the security agencies were looking for six or seven men suspected of being members of the spying ring.  
According to the report published by Al Qabas on its front page, security forces raided the home of one of the cell leaders in Sulaibiya two days ago and found maps for vital sites, highly sensitive and sophisticated communications devices and more than $250,000 in cash.
The military members of the cell have been monitoring and taking pictures of Kuwaiti and US military sites and assigned to gather information about the joint exercises between Kuwait and military alliance forces.  continue reading…

The head of a popular committee defending Kuwaiti nationals held in Guantanamo has blasted the US administration for seeking to impose restrictions on former prisoners before it could consider the release of the remaining detainees. “The US wants to impose new security conditions on former detainees because it was unable to detain or condemn them,” Khalid Al Oda said. “This is not right at all and it is undemocratic,” he said.

Al Oda was reacting to news that the Obama administration was refusing to consider sending home two Kuwaiti detainees held at Guantanamo Bay unless new restrictions were placed on two former detainees already released to Kuwait. According to David Cynamon, the lawyer of the Kuwaiti detainees, the US administration has demanded that the two previously released detainees have their passports taken away, be required to check in with local authorities regularly and be under surveillance by the Kuwaiti government for a period of time. continue reading…

A non-Kuwaiti man who marries a Kuwaiti woman will be granted the Kuwaiti citizenship if his wife of at least ten years approves his application, a government study has recommended.

According to the study, other conditions required for the citizenship stipulate that the couple has at least five children.

“The husband must not take up a second wife after getting the citizenship and the wife cannot divorce her naturalized husband to marry another man,” the study said, according to Al Watan daily. “The husband has no right to a government-sponsored house or a housing loan and cannot run or vote in elections. The wife may obtain a loan to purchase a house, but the husband will not be registered as co-owner.” continue reading…

Kuwait’s labour and social affairs minister said that charitable work was under close and constant scrutiny to ensure full compliance with the law.

“We have competent authorities within the ministry that are strictly monitoring all charitable and benevolent work,” Mohammad Al Afassi said. “We pay special attention to charity action and donations in order to be sure there is the slightest suspicion about them,” the minister said.

Several Kuwait-based charitable organizations are active both in the country and in poor areas in Asia and Africa. continue reading…

Kuwait is working on introducing a minimum wage in the private sector for expatriates in the private sector to ensure decent living conditions for them, the labour minister has said.

“Kuwait is keen on protecting human rights and dignity and wants to move forward after it enacted a new labour law for the private sector and a law for the handicapped,” Mohammad Al Afassi said.

The labour law protects workers’ rights and achievements while the law for the handicapped provides security and stability for the handicapped and their families, the minister was quoted as saying by the local media.

“We are also working on scrapping the sponsorship system in order to preserve workers’ rights from abuses,” he said. “The government is currently working with the competent committee in the parliament on enacting a law that would criminalize trafficking in people and impose stiff penalties on violators,” said Al Afassi who is also in charge of the social affairs portfolio. continue reading…

Bin Rajab at his majlis on Friday - Al Bilad

A Bahraini minister has denied involvement in a money-laundering scheme, saying that reports of his arrest and interrogation were not true and lacked credibility.

Addressing visitors to his weekly majlis (open house), Mansoor Bin Rajab, a state minister without portfolio, said that he had been called in by the interior ministry to answer questions about his ministry staff.

“I was called by the Criminal Investigations Directorate and not by the Public Prosecution and they asked me a few questions before I went back home,” Bin Rajab said. “They were very fine with me and treated me well. When I returned home, I resumed my daily routine and here I am opening my majlis for my regular visitors,” he said.

However, when pressed to say whether he would be attending the weekly cabinet meeting on Sunday, the minister said that it would be up to the country’s leaders to decide on the issue. He also denied a report that he felt uneasy during the questioning and that a nurse was rushed to his side, saying they were rumours. “You can look at me. I am in good condition and I never felt unwell,” he said.

According to Al Ayam daily, the minister was released on the grounds of his health. continue reading…

Nouria Al Sbaih - Al Qabas

Kuwait’s former education minister has accused lawmakers of abusing their positions to ask for favours from ministers.

“There are MPs who are blackmailing ministers. The minister has either to accept their demands, regardless of their legitimacy, or face grilling,” Nouria Al Sbaih, said. “Such practices cannot be called democracy, and are blatant blackmail,” the former minister was quoted as saying by Al Qabas daily on Wednesday.

Kuwaitis must be highly selective in choosing their representatives and must stress competence and not tribalism and sectarianism, she said.

“The people of Kuwait should be the ones who assess the performance of any minister or lawmaker.”

Nouria has had a stormy history with conservative MPs who opposed her nomination in April 2007 as Kuwait’s first woman education minister and shouted and jeered as she took the oath of office after she refused to wear a headscarf in parliament.

One MP, Dhaiffallah Bou Ramia, was forced by parliament Speaker Jassem Al Khurafi to sit down after he stood and shouted during the ceremony. continue reading…

Eye scan technology

Kuwait should introduce a mandatory eye scan at the airport and seaport to check the identity of all foreigners coming into the country, a lawmaker has said.

“We have seen that many people who had been deported or denied entry into Kuwait resort to forged travel documents to come back using,” MP Abdullah Al Rooomi said. “Some of them have criminal records and allowing them here means new security challenges that we must tackle without failure. The eye scan should be a great solution to catch illegal visitors,” he said in a motion submitted to the parliament.

The scan should be carried out at all entry ports, the lawmaker said. continue reading…

The Russian ambassador (second left) with colleagues from Iran, Jordan and Czech Republic - Al Anba

Russia will supply Kuwait with several types of weapons under a bilateral agreement, Kuwaiti media said on Wednesday.

Quoting Alexander Kinshchak, Russia’s ambassador to Kuwait, Al Anba said that the two countries have agreed on all the details and that Kuwaiti experts will be trained on the use of the new weapons.

A Kuwaiti military delegation is expected to fly to Russia for matters related to the training, the paper said.

Kinshchak who was talking at a reception he hosted to mark the Army Day, however, refused to give details about the weapons.

“We are now in the implementation stage and we will scrupulously apply all the conditions stipulated in the agreement,” he said.

Kinshchak said that Kuwait- Russia military cooperation was robust and included technical reinforcement in all military areas, but ruled out joint exercises in the present time.

“We do not have military units in Kuwait in order to engage in military manoeuvres.  However, such cooperation could take place in the future,” said Kinshchak who has been in his post in Kuwait since April 2008. “The fact that we can cooperate indicates that we have good relations.” continue reading…

Shaikh Mohammad Al Sabah

Kuwait will seek to help defuse the diplomatic tension between Libya and Switzerland, the Kuwaiti foreign minister has said.

Shaikh Mohammad Al Sabah who started on Monday a European tour of Portugal, Britain, Luxemburg and Belgium, will also visit Libya for discussions that include the Arab summit to be hosted by Tripoli next month as well as the diplomatic row between Tripoli and Geneva.

“The visit to Libya is highly significant because it comes amid preparations for the annual summit,” Shaikh Mohammad said. “But, there is also the standoff between Switzerland and Libya and its effect on the Libyan-European relations. I will take up this issue during my stops in Europe and will brief the Libyan foreign minister on the outcome of the meetings with European officials,” Shaikh Mohammad was quoted as telling Kuwaiti media prior to his departure. continue reading…