Manama: A Kuwaiti lawmaker has waded into controversy after he posted tweets deemed offensive to Bahrain, prompting calls from fellow MPs to the Kuwaiti government to issue a formal statement and to initiate disciplinary proceedings against him.

In his tweets, MP Abdul Hamid Dashti, known for his fierce defence of Syrian President Bashar Al Assad, referred to political decisions in Bahrain and added that “the invaders of Bahrain will leave,” without specifying the object of his tirade.

Bahrain’s Foreign Minister Shaikh Khalid Bin Ahmad Al Khalifa, who is in New York to attend the UN General assembly, reacted by tweeting that “Bahrain’s respect was for the Kuwaiti parliament, and not for the nobody who attributes himself to the Kuwaiti people.”

However, in Kuwait, the tweets by Dashti, who has made similar provocative statements in the past, could land him in legal trouble.

Local daily Al Jareeda on Thursday reported that the security agencies in Kuwait were working on a memorandum to be referred to the government recommending that a case be filed against Dashti for his repeated outbursts against a “sisterly state”.

Some lawmakers did not wait for the formal course of action and promptly criticised Dashti for his blatant interference in Bahrain’s internal issues.

“I dare Dashti, if he is courageous and brave enough, to identify who the invaders he mentioned in his tweets are,” MP Hamdan Al Azimi said on Wednesday. “We want the government to issue an official statement in which it responds to the allegations by Dashti. We want the government also to explain the measures it will take against these repeated attacks by the lawmaker on a sisterly state that has very close ties with Kuwait as well on his defence of the criminal Syrian regime,” he said, quoted by Al Jareeda.

MP Hamoud Al Hamdan said that Kuwaiti lawmakers had no business interfering in the domestic affairs of other countries, particularly Bahrain. “The situation in Bahrain is stable and the conditions of our brothers there are steadily improving, unlike the claims made by Dashti,” he said.

MP Faisal Al Kindari said that the interference of any lawmaker in the affairs of any other country was not acceptable. “It is a shame that a lawmaker takes sides by supporting a sect or a group against the others,” he said. “We want people to support unity and we lawmakers in Kuwait should assume our responsibilities fully in representing Kuwaitis who are known for their love for their Gulf and Arab brothers,” he said.