Manama: The foreigners arrested for storming the Syrian embassy in Kuwait City will not be deported to their home countries, but to countries of their choice, the interior ministry said.
Several foreigners, mainly Syrians, were arrested on Saturday after they stormed the embassy building and smashed into the ambassador's residence to protest against the dramatic developments in Homs.
Nobody was hurt in the pre-dawn storming, but offices were ransacked and furniture was damaged.
The interior and foreign affairs ministries condemned the attacks and said that Kuwait would not tolerate action against a diplomatic mission.
However, several lawmakers rushed to defend the detainees and warned that they would face a certain death if they were sent home as stipulated by Kuwait's laws.
"Those who were arrested for storming the embassy will receive a fair trial," Shaikh Ahmad Al Humood, the interior minister, said.
"However, after the verdict is announced, they will be deported to the country where they choose to go. We will not allow anyone to damage or attack a diplomatic mission and we are full responsible for securing diplomatic buildings and protecting diplomats," he said.
Shaikh Ahmad said that when he was interior minister in 1991, he faced a similar situation with Iraqi nationals who had to be deported from Kuwait. "When I learned that they would be executed by the Iraqi regime, we did our best to deport them to other countries to save their lives," he said.