Article

2005-01-30 Arabia

Kuwaiti lawmakers are divided over whether a special parliamentary session to discuss pertinent issues on terrorism and the security of the country on February 1 should be open to the public or held behind closed doors. The Council of Ministers, however, will decide on the issue at their regular session tomorrow. Their decision will depend on the sensitivity of the information garnered by the public prosecution in the interrogation of the arrested suspects in the two gun battles that took place between security forces and militants earlier this month. Interior Minister Shaikh Nawaf Al Ahmad Al Sabah is expected to brief the Cabinet when investigations are complete and is also expected to elaborate on the nature of contacts that Kuwaiti authorities have with their GCC counterparts, mainly Saudi Arabia.

The official spokesman for the People's Front, Mussalam Al Barrak, MP, said, "such important issues should be discussed openly as we have arrived at a critical point and the situation is getting more dangerous. We have arrived at a stage where terrorists are labelling the entire Kuwaiti society as infidels and this is completely unacceptable."

Another lawmaker Bader Al Farisi, however, said, "if the information available is confidential and sensitive and endangers the security of the country it has to be deliberated behind closed doors." A ministerial source warned that any sensitive or critical discussions may cause a societal rift. "The Cabinet has to take into consideration the general political atmosphere in the country," the source said.

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Meanwhile, Al Qabas daily said yesterday that the man who shot and killed a policeman in Hawalli is still at large and has most probably escaped to Iraq. "Investigations run by State Security with the suspects will be concluded before the holding of the special parliamentary session and we will then know the whole extent of the terror network," Al Farisi said. Mussalam Al Barrak further went on to say that the parliament and the government are responsible for the security problems in the country as both the ministries of information and education have failed in their responsibility to tackle extremism in the country when it reared its ugly head in Kuwaiti society. "What is important to us is that all of Kuwaiti society should know the details of this case, especially as they are several groups that support terrorism. Those who are against an open session should provide convincing reasons why a discussion on the country's security should be held behind closed doors," Al Barrak said. Abdul Wahab Al Haroun also supported an open discussion so that citizens should not be kept in the dark but Abdul Wahab Al Awadi disagreed because he believes, "we as MPs need to listen to the government's information on the terrorists before it is revealed to the public."

Posted by Fred 2005-01-30 00:00:00 AM|| || Front Page|| [24 views since 2007-05-07] Top

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