Member states of the Arab League

Kuwait MPs file to grill oil minister over Dow penalty

Agence France-PresseMay 13, 2013 10:30

Three Kuwaiti lawmakers on Monday requested to question Oil Minister Hani Hussein over the payment of a $2.2-billion penalty to Dow Chemical after the emirate pulled out of a deal with the US firm. Saadun Hammad, Nasser al-Marri and Yacoub al-Sane also charged the minister had allowed deals with Israel, as well as approved liquor sales at Kuwait-owned petrol stations in Europe and illegal staff promotions.

Tunisian forces hunting 2 armed groups near Algeria border

Agence France-PresseMay 2, 2013 06:00

Tunisian security forces were Thursday hunting two armed jihadist groups near the Algerian border, one in the Mount Chaambi region and the other in Kef further north, the interior ministry said. "There are two groups, one of about 15 to 20 people in Mount Chaambi... Another group is in the Kef region near the Algerian border," ministry spokesman Mohamed Ali Aroui told AFP. kl-alf/sma/hc

Football: Saudi candidate in late withdrawal from AFC vote

Agence France-PresseMay 1, 2013 09:15

Saudi Arabia's Hafez Ibrahim Al Medlej made a late withdrawal from the Asian Football Confederation (AFC) presidential election on Wednesday, leaving three candidates in the running. No reason was given for the pullout in an AFC statement issued late on Wednesday, less than 24 hours before Thursday's vote, but Medlej had earlier announced his intention to withdraw to avoid diluting the Arab vote.

Kuwait says owed $11.2 bn in Iraq war reparations

Agence France-PresseApril 30, 2013 15:58

Kuwait has received $2.43 billion in war reparations from Iraq since the start of the year and is still owed another $11.2 billion, a senior official in the Guly emirate said on Tuesday. "Kuwait received $1.3 billion in January and $1.13 billion on April 25," the official KUNA news agency cited Compensation Claims Commission chief Khaled al-Mudhaf as saying. Speaking before the Geneva-based UN Compensation Commission, Mudhaf called on Baghdad to continue to deposit five percent of its oil revenues into the fund to ensure regular payments.

Egypt presidential aides 'in Iran to discuss Syria'

Agence France-PresseApril 27, 2013 13:01

Senior Egyptian officials visited Iran on Saturday to further a proposal by Cairo for an Islamic quartet that would help to resolve the Syrian conflict, the presidency said. President Mohamed Morsi's foreign relations adviser Essam El Haddad led the delegation which included the president's chief of staff Refaa al-Tahtawi, the presidency said in a statement. Egypt had proposed that Turkey, Egypt and bitter regional rivals Saudi Arabia and Iran form the quartet.

Bahrain police arrest 2 'girls' over bid to attack F1

Agence France-PresseApril 23, 2013 10:00

Two Bahraini girls were arrested for allegedly having plotted to carry out an attack on Sakhir circuit during the weekend's Formula One Grand Prix race, police said on Tuesday. Authorities arrested "two girls who were trying to carry out a terrorist act at Bahrain's international circuit in the south, as the kingdom was hosting the Formula One race," state news agency BNA quoted police as saying.

Saudi to study switching Islamic weekend

Agence France-PresseApril 22, 2013 13:01

The Saudi Shura Consultative Council agreed on Monday to study a recommendation to switch the Islamic weekend in the kingdom to Friday and Saturday, like other Gulf states, state news agency SPA reported. The weekend in Saudi Arabia remains on Thursday and Friday, although other Gulf states have pushed it back by one day to reduce the difference with the rest of the world, which affects financial markets and businesses.

Syria's opposition looks to new leadership

Agence France-PresseApril 22, 2013 10:30

Syria's divided opposition is seeking a new leader after Ahmed Moaz al-Khatib's resignation, eyeing a candidate who can mediate internal disputes and rivalries between key backers Saudi Arabia and Qatar. Khatib, a popular figure both inside and outside Syria, has thrown in the towel twice in the space of a month, ostensibly to protest the international community's failure to stop a conflict that has killed more than 70,000 people.

US fears promise of Arab Spring may be lost

Agence France-PresseApril 19, 2013 17:16

Global hopes that democracy could replace dictatorships in Arab Spring nations risk being crushed by repressive regimes, the United States warned Friday in its annual human rights report. Two years after the first uprisings against iron-fisted rulers in the Middle East and North Africa, the countries that gave rise to the Arab Spring are encountering "harsh realities" and face "immense challenges," the State Department said in its assessment of the global rights situation in 2012.

Kuwait makes good on $300 mn pledge for Syria aid

Agence France-PresseApril 18, 2013 08:35

Kuwait has come through with the $300 million it pledged towards aid for stricken Syrians at a January donor's conference, the emirate and the United Nations said Thursday, urging other nations to follow its lead. "We are ... matching our words with our deeds," Kuwait ambassador Dharar Abdul-Razzak Razzooqi told reporters in Geneva, detailing how the cash had been split between nine UN agencies and the International Committee of the Red Cross. "We hope that other (countries) will come and fulfil the pledges that they have made at the Kuwait conference," he added.