Kuwait ex-minister shrugs off legal challenge

Former Kuwaiti oil and finance minister Sheikh Ali Al Khalifa Al Sabah, who is also a member of the ruling family, said yesterday he was confident of surviving a new legal challenge by the government.

Without specifically naming Sheikh Ali, the cabinet said in its weekly statement that it would re-submit a complaint "according to regulations, guidelines and comprising all aspects" involving a previous case brought by a state-owned tanker firm.

A special ministerial court on Wednesday threw out a "vague" case brought against Sheikh Ali in December 1998 by the state's Kuwait Oil Tanker Co. (KOTC) in a high-profile scandal involving the alleged embezzlement of $130 million.

The government said it would seek to refile a complaint against him in that case and launch another involving alleged illegal debt payments from public funds in which Sheikh Ali allegedly played a role.

Sheikh Ali, a member of the ruling al-Sabah family, responded to the cabinet decision by saying: "There is no need to reiterate my innocence. I'm 1,000 per cent innocent in both cases. I welcome both cases," he told Reuters.