Manama: Kuwaiti Interior Minister Shaikh Jaber Al Khaled Al Sabah has been granted full authority to clean up the ministry, a local paper said.
The extra powers include rotating personnel and removing senior officers stalling "genuine efforts to protect Kuwait and Kuwaiti citizens."
The decision was made after Mohammad Al Mutairi, a Kuwaiti national, was last week tortured to death by interior ministry staff and officers resorted to a massive cover-up.
Shaikh Jaber, upon receiving the medical report on Al Mutairi's suspicious death, resigned, but was asked to keep his post until at least the end of the investigation into the case that deeply shocked Kuwait.
According to Al Watan daily, the Kuwaiti leadership is "deeply disturbed by the news about Al Mutairi's death and the subsequent cover-up."
An initial investigation has concluded that Al Mutairi, accused by the police of trafficking in alcohol and drugs, died under extreme torture by several agents who reportedly acted according to orders from a highly-placed officer.
The prosecutor has formally charged Abdullah Al Awadhi, Salem Al Rashed, Salman Al Matar, Abdullah Al Azmi, Ayed Al Otaibi, Ahmad Al Rashidi, Khaled Al Azmi, and Faisal Al Asfour, the agents and police officers involved in the crime, with manslaughter, abduction, torture, and forcing the deceased to confess, the daily said.
However, Al Asfour has rejected the accusations and said that the agents had received orders from Abdullah Al Awadhi and followed them without questioning their merits in line with security traditions.
Lawmaker Salem Al Azmi said that officers who have been in service for more than 40 years should retire "because they have nothing more to offer" and allow younger officers to hold high positions.
MP Ali Al Rashed said that Al Ahmadi police station should be renamed Mohammad Al Mutairi.
"This will certainly serve as a strong reminder to anyone who dares to think about torturing a Kuwaiti national or a foreign resident," he said in a letter to the parliament speaker.
Kuwait Bar Association said that it would held next Sunday a forum to discuss the duties and responsibilities of the state in preserving people's rights and dignity.
