Manama: A Kuwaiti lawmaker has submitted a draft law to jail members or supporters of Lebanese militia Hezbollah and the Daesh terrorist group.

Anyone who joins either group or shows allegiance or support in any manifestation — in Kuwait or abroad — should be jailed for up to 20 years and not less than 10 years, MP Waleed Al Tabtabai said in his draft.

The same prison term will be applied to anyone who sets up in Kuwait a group, a cell or a party affiliated with Daesh or Hezbollah, he added.

Any individual who promotes either group through any medium and in any form, including using their slogans or symbols, will be jailed for up to five years.

The draft law bars anyone who is a member or sympathiser of either group from entering Kuwait.

The lawmaker said the draft law was based on the indisputable conclusion that the two groups were guilty of terror crimes targeting Kuwait.

“The Cassation Court has concluded that Hezbollah was an armed organisation at the service of Iran and embracing the principles of the Iranian Revolution that it seeks to disseminate in Kuwait,” he said. “Hezbollah is also implicated in intelligence activities with Iran and plots to carry out antagonistic acts against Kuwait after smuggling in weapons, hand grenades and explosives .”

Al Tabtabai added there were no doubts that Daesh was a terror group based on the crimes it perpetrated and which had no links to Islam.

“These include the suicide bombing of Al Sadiq Mosque in Kuwait and other terror acts. We must not ignore what Daesh is doing and how it is being used to target or harm Kuwait,” the lawmaker said.

On Saturday, Kuwait lodged a protest with the Lebanese government, urging it to assume its responsibilities towards “irresponsible practices by Hezbollah, a component of the government.”

Kuwait’s Ambassador to Lebanon Abdul Aal Al Qenaei announced the protest as he made comments on reports cited by social media regarding a missive from the Kuwaiti foreign ministry to Lebanon following the verdict by the Court of Cassation in the case of Al Abdali terror cell.

The ruling, pronounced in June following a long trial, affirmed the involvement of Hezbollah in intelligence, coordination of meetings, payment of funds, and provision of weapons and training on Lebanese territory with the aim of destroying the basic infrastructure of the State of Kuwait.

On Thursday, Kuwait asked the Iranian embassy to reduce the number of its diplomats from 19 to four, and gave the personae non gratae 45 days to leave the country.

The request was made in a protest letter to the Iranian diplomatic mission in Kuwait, asking for shutting down the cultural mission, the military bureau and technical offices and announcing that all joint commissions between the two countries were suspended.

On August 13, 2015, Kuwait’s Interior Ministry said it smashed a terrorist cell and uncovered a large cache of arms, ammunitions and explosives hidden underground at a farm in Al Abdali. The cache contained 24 hand grenades, 65 guns, 56 RPGs and 144kg of bomb-making material.

On September 1, 2015, Kuwait’s public prosecution said 26 defendants, including one Iranian, would stand trial for the possession of weapons, ammunition and explosives and espionage for Iran and Hezbollah.