Manama: Kuwait has condemned the storming of the Syrian embassy in Kuwait City by hundreds of people, mainly Syrian nationals.
Reports in the Kuwaiti capital said that the pre-dawn smashing on Saturday targeted the embassy building and the nearby residence of the ambassador.
The ambassador Bassam Abdul Majeed and the embassy staff were safe and were not hurt in the storming, sources at the interior ministry said, adding that 35 people, including two Kuwaitis, were arrested.
The diplomat told Arabic daily Al Seyassah that the attack was a “cowardly act” and that his office was ransacked and that furniture and cameras were damaged.
Shaikh Ahmad Al Humoud, the interior and defence minister, during a visit to the embassy buildings pledged the full application of the law while foreign ministry undersecretary Khalid Al Jarallah said that the storming was “an attack on the security of Kuwait.”
Syrian authorities have been asked to beef up security around the Kuwaiti embassy in Damascus amid concerns about retaliations, he said.
On Saturday evening, hundreds of people, including lawmakers and representatives from civil and religious organisations, held a rally to press for the “prompt expulsion of the Syrian ambassador and the recognition of the Syrian national council.”
The demonstrators said that the Kuwaiti authorities should avoid expelling the Syrian nationals who were arrested for storming the embassy, voicing concerns about their safety if they are given to the Syrian authorities.
“The government should not remain idle towards the Syrian massacres,” MP Mohammad Hayef said. “We will hold a new rally if they fail to expel the ambassador and his staff.”
However, other MPs condemned the storming of the embassy and requested the government to adopt stringent measures.
“Such irresponsible acts are a violation of Kuwait’s international commitments,” they said.