Kuwait Re-Appoints Sheikh Ahmad Nawaf Al-Sabah as PM

A view of Kuwait City, Kuwait. (AFP file photo)
A view of Kuwait City, Kuwait. (AFP file photo)
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Kuwait Re-Appoints Sheikh Ahmad Nawaf Al-Sabah as PM

A view of Kuwait City, Kuwait. (AFP file photo)
A view of Kuwait City, Kuwait. (AFP file photo)

Kuwait's Crown Prince re-appointed Sheikh Ahmad Nawaf al-Sabah as prime minister and asked him to nominate a cabinet, state news agency KUNA reported on Sunday, more than a month after the government resigned due to renewed friction with parliament.

A long-running standoff between the government and the elected parliament has hampered efforts by the country to push through fiscal reforms, including a debt law allowing Kuwait to tap international markets.

Crown Prince Sheikh Meshal al-Ahmad al-Sabah, who has taken over most of the ruling emir's duties, moved last year to end feuding by naming Sheikh Ahmad as premier, dissolving parliament and calling early polls.

Tensions resurfaced when lawmakers pressed the government sworn in last October for a debt relief bill, under which the state would buy Kuwaiti citizens' personal loans, and sought to question two ministers, prompting the government to resign in January.

While Kuwait has strong fiscal and external balance sheets, frequent political bickering and institutional gridlock have hampered investment and reforms aimed at reducing its heavy reliance on oil revenues.



Syria’s Leader Meets with Bahraini Diplomatic Delegation

The leader of Syria's new administration, Ahmed al-Sharaa meets Bahraini Foreign Minister Abdul Latif Al-Zayani in Damascus, Syria, January 8, 2025. (Bahrain News Agency/Handout via Reuters)
The leader of Syria's new administration, Ahmed al-Sharaa meets Bahraini Foreign Minister Abdul Latif Al-Zayani in Damascus, Syria, January 8, 2025. (Bahrain News Agency/Handout via Reuters)
TT

Syria’s Leader Meets with Bahraini Diplomatic Delegation

The leader of Syria's new administration, Ahmed al-Sharaa meets Bahraini Foreign Minister Abdul Latif Al-Zayani in Damascus, Syria, January 8, 2025. (Bahrain News Agency/Handout via Reuters)
The leader of Syria's new administration, Ahmed al-Sharaa meets Bahraini Foreign Minister Abdul Latif Al-Zayani in Damascus, Syria, January 8, 2025. (Bahrain News Agency/Handout via Reuters)

Syria's de facto leader Ahmed al-Sharaa received a delegation from Bahrain on Wednesday and met with the Bahraini foreign minister, state media reported.

The visit was the latest in a flurry of diplomatic overtures by Arab countries to Syria’s new leaders after they overthrew former President Bashar al-Assad in a lightning rebel offensive.

Like other Gulf countries, Bahrain had cut off diplomatic ties with Syria under Assad’s rule during the Syrian civil war, but it reopened its embassy in Damascus in 2018 and gradually restored ties with the Assad government.

Bahrain is the current head of the Arab summit, and days after Assad’s ouster it had sent a message to al-Sharaa offering its cooperation with the new authorities and saying, “We look forward to Syria regaining its authentic role in the Arab League.”