Kuwait City: Police have arrested a man who brandished a gun at an imam after he prevented him from raising funds for Syrians.
The suspect, a Kuwaiti national, reportedly seized the mosque microphone following the Friday prayers to ask the worshippers to donate money to assist the Syrians.
However, the imam took the microphone away from him, telling him that he had no right to use it to call for raising funds. He added that there were special committees for the fund-raising activities, local Arabic daily Al Watan reported on Saturday.
However, the man, who was not named, insisted on addressing the people at the mosque, eventually taking out a gun and pointing out at the imam’s face.
The worshippers promptly jumped to intercede and protect the imam, causing the gun-wielding man to flee.
He reportedly stole a car of an expatriate man and fired at the policemen chasing him.
Orders were issued to fire back at him and to take all measures to arrest him, the daily said.
A police car smashed into the stolen vehicle, but he got off and ran away again before forcing a motorist to hand him the car keys, threatening him with the gun.
He then drove towards the desert to avoid arrest, but the police eventually swooped on him and eventually seized him.
A search revealed that the man, a full time employee with the endowments ministry, had two guns and that he was on the police wanted list for financial violations.
Kuwait, like the other Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) countries, has banned popular raising funds for the Syrians, insisting that only the organisations that had been formally licenced could receive donations.
