Diplomatic Briefing
Your exclusive news aggregator handpicked daily!Archive for Kuwait
Newsline: Kuwait names first ambassador to Iran in over six years
Kuwait has appointed an ambassador to Iran, both countries said on Sunday, more than six years after recalling its top envoy to Tehran in solidarity with Saudi Arabia after it severed ties with the Islamic Republic in 2016. Ambassador Bader Abdullah Al-Munaikh handed his credentials to Iranian Foreign Minister Hossein Amirabdollahian in Tehran on Saturday, Iran’s foreign ministry said on its website. Kuwait’s foreign ministry confirmed Munaikh was appointed envoy to Iran. (https://news.yahoo.com/kuwait-names-first-ambassador-iran-131354442.html) Iran already has an ambassador in Kuwait. The move comes as Sunni Muslim powerhouse Saudi Arabia works to improve ties with Shi’ite Iran, with which it has been locked in a rivalry that has played out across conflicts in the region. Riyadh broke off ties with Tehran in January 2016 after Iranian protesters stormed the Saudi embassy in Iran after Saudi Arabia executed a prominent Shi’ite cleric. Kuwait recalled its envoy to Iran as other Gulf Arab states downgraded ties to rally behind Riyadh. Kuwait has maintained relatively good relations with Tehran under a foreign policy balancing ties with its larger neighbours.
Newsline: Iran summons Kuwait envoy in Tehran to protest about ‘anti-Iranian’ meeting
Iran summoned Kuwait’s envoy in Tehran to protest about Kuwaiti officials meeting a representative of a “terrorist group” and hosting an “anti-Iranian” meeting, Iran’s foreign ministry said in a statement on its website. (https://www.reuters.com/article/us-iran-kuwait-envoy/iran-summons-kuwait-envoy-in-tehran-to-protest-about-anti-iranian-meeting-statement-idUSKBN1YW0CU) “These kinds of actions are clear interference in the internal affairs of the Islamic Republic of Iran and a violation of the principle of good neighborly relations and friendly statements from Kuwaiti officials,” the Iranian foreign ministry’s representative for the Gulf said, according to the statement. The ministry did not provide any more details about the group concerned or about which Kuwaiti officials had met the group’s representative.
Newsline: South Sudan backtracks on embassy shutdowns, set to reopen 4
South Sudan has reversed a decision to close down some of its embassies across the world as the country’s president Salva Kiir on Friday ordered the reopening of four diplomatic missions that were closed some months ago. Kiir quashed a previous directive for the closure of some diplomatic missions and ordered the reopening of three embassies in Europe and one in Asia, information minister Michael Makuei Lueth told reporters after the weekly cabinet meeting. “The president informed the cabinet that he has set aside the order that was made for the closure of some embassies,” Makuie said. (http://www.xinhuanet.com/english/2019-08/17/c_138314799.htm) “Those embassies which were closed… another order has been issued reinstating them. These embassies are of Norway, France, Italy and Kuwait… now these embassies will continue to operate,” he added. South Sudan’s foreign ministry announced in May that it was reviewing the status of its 39 embassies and consulates across the world and close some in a bid to reduce operational costs.
Newsline: Kuwait investigating vandalism in Bangladesh Embassy
Kuwaiti authorities are investigating Thursday’s vandalism and physical assaults on staff inside Bangladesh Embassy in Kuwait by a group of agitated Bangladeshi workers, said an official on Friday. He said the probe is being carried out through analysing CCTV footage. The Bangladesh Embassy, however, requested the Kuwaiti authorities not to harass any innocent worker during the investigation process. On Thursday, a group of Bangladeshi workers ransacked the Embassy property, including computers and TV, despite assurance from the Ambassador to address their issues through discussions. On request, members of law enforcement agencies rushed to the spot and picked up around 150 workers for questioning, said the Embassy sources.
Newsline: Currency confiscated from Kuwaiti diplomat in Pakistan
Customs authorities seized $46,500 from an attaché of the Kuwaiti embassy at the Islamabad International Airport. The customs staff spotted large amount of dollars during clearance of passengers travelling on Kuwait Airways flight and asked the diplomat to produce official permission document from the State Bank to carry the amount. The customs authorities said the official produced a certificate of his embassy as well as his salary certificate, but no official permission from the State Bank of Pakistan. The currency was then confiscated from the diplomat, however, no FIR was registered against him keeping in view his diplomatic status. The case was referred to the relevant authorities. A senior customs official said the diplomat was allowed to go.
Newsline: Philippine ambassador expelled by Kuwait returns home
A Filipino ambassador expelled by Kuwait, which protested the rescue of abused Filipina housemaids in the Persian Gulf country as an affront to its sovereignty, returned home Wednesday with the Philippines insisting it did not commit any infraction. Philippine Foreign Secretary Alan Peter Cayetano welcomed Ambassador Renato Villa at Manila’s international airport. Both expressed hope that the diplomatic row could be resolved soon. Cayetano said 35 of 38 rescue efforts of Filipina housemaids by Philippine officials last month were coordinated with Kuwaiti authorities but three were conducted by Filipino officials themselves because rapid action was needed. The move, Cayetano said, “is acceptable and is a duty under international law but it caused commotion to them.” “That’s why I said I apologize if our actions seemed to violate your sovereignty but let me assure you it’s in the spirit of protecting our nationals,” Cayetano told reporters at the airport. Kuwait’s Foreign Ministry accused the Philippine Embassy last week of a “flagrant and grave breach of rules and regulations that govern diplomatic action where staff helped Filipina house helpers run away,” and ordered Villa to leave within a week. Kuwait also recalled its ambassador from Manila. Two Filipinos associated with the embassy were also arrested in Kuwait for allegedly convincing maids to flee their employers’ homes.
https://www.yahoo.com/news/philippine-ambassador-expelled-kuwait-returns-home-152811152.html
Newsline: Kuwait Expels Philippines Ambassador Amid Dispute
Kuwait on Wednesday expelled the Philippines ambassador and recalled its own from Manila over a growing diplomatic dispute regarding the abuse of Filipina housemaids and workers in the country. The highly unusual move came as a surprise in the typically sedate and oil-rich Gulf Arab nation, whose homes rely on Filipina nannies and maids. The two nations had been negotiating an end to the Philippines’ ban on workers from heading there following the shocking discovery in February of a Filipina stuffed into a freezer in Kuwait City for over a year. But the arrest of two Filipinos earlier this week over allegedly convincing maids to flee their employers’ homes and Philippines Ambassador Renato Villa’s comments reported in local media over the effort appears to have been too much for Kuwait to accept.
Newsline: Kuwait removed diplomat from New Zealand following alleged assault
Kuwait withdrew one of its diplomats from New Zealand following an allegation of assault. The envoy was removed after the Middle Eastern country declined to waive diplomatic immunity. The police said they were called to a central Wellington address in the early morning. “This involved an allegation of assault by a diplomat from the Embassy of the State of Kuwait.”
http://www.nzherald.co.nz/nz/news/article.cfm?c_id=1&objectid=11899373
Newsline: Iran Says Ambassador to Remain in Kuwait Despite Row
Iran on Monday denied reports that Kuwait had expelled its ambassador, saying it would maintain a dialogue with the Gulf Arab state after a diplomatic row over Tehran’s alleged links to a “spy and terror” cell. Iranian and Kuwaiti media reported on Thursday that Kuwait had ordered the expulsion of the Iranian ambassador and 14 other diplomats, worsening an unusual public dispute between the two countries. “The ambassador of the Islamic Republic of Iran will continue to be present in Kuwait and the embassy will be active at the ambassadorial level, and there is no problem in this regard,” Foreign Ministry spokesman Bahram Qasemi was quoted as saying by the official IRNA news agency. Kuwait also told Iran’s cultural and military missions to shut down, following a court case that increased tensions between the Gulf Arab state and Tehran. Iran responded to the expulsions by filing a complaint with the Kuwaiti charge d’affaires. The expulsions were a rare move for Kuwait, which avoids conflict and has worked at keeping good relations with nearby countries and whose ruling emir is a regional diplomatic broker. Saudi Arabia, which severed ties with Tehran last year over attacks by Iranian demonstrators on its missions in the Islamic Republic, welcomed the move.
Newsline: Kuwait tells Iranian embassy to cut staff after spy case
Kuwait has ordered Iran to reduce its embassy staff and close down its technical offices in the Gulf Arab state following a court case which implicated “Iranian parties” of involvement in a spy cell, state news agency KUNA said on Thursday. Last year Kuwait convicted 23 men – one Iranian and the rest Kuwaiti – of spying for Iran and Lebanese Shi’ite Muslim group Hezbollah after a cache of guns and explosives were discovered in a raid of the so-called “Abdali cell” in 2015. In a case which stoked unusually severe tensions between the two OPEC members, Kuwait’s highest court changed some of the sentences last month. Iranian state television said Kuwait’s Foreign Ministry summoned Tehran’s ambassador and ordered the number of diplomats to be cut from 19 to four and the closure of the cultural and military missions.
http://www.reuters.com/article/us-kuwait-iran-idUSKBN1A510U?il=0
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