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.



Qatar Rejects ‘Provocative’ Statements Issued by Netanyahu's Office

Majed al-Ansari, Qatari Foreign Ministry spokesperson. (Qatari Ministry of Foreign Affairs)
Majed al-Ansari, Qatari Foreign Ministry spokesperson. (Qatari Ministry of Foreign Affairs)
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Qatar Rejects ‘Provocative’ Statements Issued by Netanyahu's Office

Majed al-Ansari, Qatari Foreign Ministry spokesperson. (Qatari Ministry of Foreign Affairs)
Majed al-Ansari, Qatari Foreign Ministry spokesperson. (Qatari Ministry of Foreign Affairs)

Qatar strongly rejected on Saturday what it described as “provocative” Israeli statements made by the office of Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.
Majed al-Ansari, Qatari Foreign Ministry spokesperson, said the “Israeli statements fall short of the most basic standards of political and moral responsibility”.
He added: "Picturing the ongoing aggression in Gaza as a defense of civilization brings back rhetorics used by regimes throughout history to justify their crimes under false pretenses”.
Earlier, Netanyahu’s office called on Qatar, a key mediator between Israel and the Hamas group in Gaza, to "stop playing both sides with its double talk and decide if it's on the side of civilization or if it's on the side of Hamas".