Manama: A Kuwaiti politician says he will shave off half of his moustache, if claims made by a newspaper columnist against him proved to be true.
In his column ‘Exclamation Mark’ in Al Watan daily, Fuad Al Hashem wrote that the Islamic MP Waleed Al Tabtabai, one of a number of journalists aboard the Turkish flotilla taking aid to Gaza, was so scared when the Israelis raided the ship, that he hid in the cleaners' bathroom.
The 58-year-old columnist claims he heard a recording of Al Tabtabai eagerly pleading with an Israeli soldier who insulted him.
He also wrote that the Kuwaiti MP, later arrested by the Israeli authorities alongside the other activists, signed an Israeli document pledging not to get close to Gaza again. A copy of which was supposedly given to the Kuwaiti government through an intermediary, the columnist wrote. He said the video recording and the signed pledge would soon be displayed on You Tube and the internet.
However, Al Tabtabai has defended himself, calling the claims a ‘big joke’.
"It is obvious that Al Hashem is a victim of hyperboles and the next [few] days will prove this," Al Tabtabai wrote in Al Qabas. "I wonder why Al Hashem did not wait until the clip made it to You Tube and the commitment was posted on an Internet website before he made his allegations. If he is hinting that I am a coward, avoiding confrontations, hiding in toilets, I let those who know me well testify about my character," he wrote.
The politician said he had strongly resisted signing the Israeli document. "They gave me a choice between signing the pledge or going to prison, and I chose to stand trial and go to jail," he wrote.
"Now if your version about the existence of a video recording and a signed pledge is true, I will shave off half of my moustache and leave the other half. I will not go back on my decision, like some other people did,” Al Tabtabai told Al Hashem.
The MP was referring to a promise made by Al Hashem in May 2008 when he stated in his Al Watan column that he would shave off half his moustache if Qatar succeeded in narrowing the differences between the Lebanese factions and found a solution for the Lebanese crisis.
Despite the agreement, Al Hashem has yet to follow through by shaving his moustache however.