Kuwait: Interior Minister Passes Confidence Exam

Emir Sheikh Sabah al-Ahmad al-Sabah (top C) attends the opening of the 14th session of Parliament in Kuwait City on December 16, 2012. REUTERS/Stephanie Mcgehee
Emir Sheikh Sabah al-Ahmad al-Sabah (top C) attends the opening of the 14th session of Parliament in Kuwait City on December 16, 2012. REUTERS/Stephanie Mcgehee
TT

Kuwait: Interior Minister Passes Confidence Exam

Emir Sheikh Sabah al-Ahmad al-Sabah (top C) attends the opening of the 14th session of Parliament in Kuwait City on December 16, 2012. REUTERS/Stephanie Mcgehee
Emir Sheikh Sabah al-Ahmad al-Sabah (top C) attends the opening of the 14th session of Parliament in Kuwait City on December 16, 2012. REUTERS/Stephanie Mcgehee

Kuwait’s parliament rejected a no-confidence vote against Interior Minister Anas Al-Saleh on Wednesday.

The minister, who also serves as deputy prime minister and minister of state for government affairs, survived the vote after the no-confidence motion was opposed by 35 deputies and supported by 13.

The government appeared satisfied with the measures Saleh has taken in wake of the security recordings case, which led to the suspension of the state security chief and seven officers. The case has also been referred to the general prosecution.

After the renewal of confidence, the minister pledged to “continue to work and do his best to serve the country.”

The questioning of the Interior minister received wide official and popular attention, as media leaks sparked outrage in Kuwait with security officials being suspected of spying on prominent Kuwaiti figures, including lawmakers and journalists.

Saleh pledged to conduct an urgent and speedy investigation, stressing that spying on citizens’ accounts was “a grave violation of the constitution.”

Senior security officials, including the Director-General of the State Security, were suspended from work and referred to the investigation.

On a different note, Kuwait’s Public Prosecutor ordered that the investigation be kept secret in the money laundering case led by an Iranian detainee.

In a statement, the Public Prosecution said the decision was made after reports on the investigations widely circulated in the media, “which seriously offends public and national interests… and severely harms the reputation of the Kuwaiti judiciary.”

The supreme judicial council ordered on Tuesday the suspension of seven judges on charges of money-laundering. They are suspected of cooperating with an Iranian detainee in carrying out their illicit activities. The Iranian man was detained by Kuwait in mid-July. He was arrested along with an Egyptian, Iraqi, and two Kuwaiti nationals during a security raid on the Bnaider neighborhood.



UN Security Council Says Peacekeeping Force Should Remain on the Israel-Syria Border

Israeli army humvees move in the UN-patrolled buffer zone separating Israeli and Syrian forces on the Golan Heights, near the Druze village of Majdal Shams in the Israel-annexed Golan Heights on December 21, 2024. (Photo by Jalaa MAREY / AFP)
Israeli army humvees move in the UN-patrolled buffer zone separating Israeli and Syrian forces on the Golan Heights, near the Druze village of Majdal Shams in the Israel-annexed Golan Heights on December 21, 2024. (Photo by Jalaa MAREY / AFP)
TT

UN Security Council Says Peacekeeping Force Should Remain on the Israel-Syria Border

Israeli army humvees move in the UN-patrolled buffer zone separating Israeli and Syrian forces on the Golan Heights, near the Druze village of Majdal Shams in the Israel-annexed Golan Heights on December 21, 2024. (Photo by Jalaa MAREY / AFP)
Israeli army humvees move in the UN-patrolled buffer zone separating Israeli and Syrian forces on the Golan Heights, near the Druze village of Majdal Shams in the Israel-annexed Golan Heights on December 21, 2024. (Photo by Jalaa MAREY / AFP)

The UN Security Council has unanimously approved a resolution extending the UN peacekeeping force on the Israel-Syria border and underscoring that there should be no military activities in the demilitarized buffer zone.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said Tuesday that Israeli troops will occupy the buffer zone for the foreseeable future. Israel captured the buffer zone shortly after the collapse of Syrian President Bashar Assad's government, The Associated Press said.
The resolution adopted Friday stressed that both countries are obligated “to scrupulously and fully respect” the 1974 Disengagement of Forces Agreement that ended the 1973 war between Syria and Israel and established the buffer zone. The resolution was co-sponsored by the United States and Russia.
The Security Council extended the mandate of the UN peacekeeping force monitoring the border area, known as UNDOF, until June 30, 2025 and called for a halt to all military actions throughout the country including in UNDOF’s area of operations.
The resolution expresses concern that ongoing military activities in the area of separation have the potential to escalate Israeli-Syrian tensions and jeopardize the 1974 ceasefire. It also expresses alarm that violence in Syria “risks a serious conflagration of the conflict in the region.”