Kuwait delegation banned from entry into Palestine

Manama: Israeli authorities have refused to allow an official Kuwaiti delegation to take part in the closing ceremony of "Jerusalem: Arab Culture Capital 2009", but permitted other Arab delegations to participate.

Kuwait's National Council for Culture, Arts and Literature (NCCAL) on Saturday said that the delegation, led by NCCAL's Secretary General Bader Al Refai, was in Amman, the Jordanian capital, waiting for the green light to enter Nablus to take part in the ceremony at Al Najah University, Kuwait News Agency (KUNA) said.

However, the Israeli authorities was determined to ban the Kuwaiti delegation from entering Nablus and refused to respond to the call of the Palestinian National Authority to allow the Kuwaiti delegation into Nbalus.

Nablus, a Palestinian city in the northern West Bank, is around 65 kilometres north of Jerusalem.

Kuwait last year became the first Arab country to hold a festivity on Jerusalem as the capital of Arab culture after it selected Jerusalem as the theme of the Qurain Cultural Festival.

The Kuwait Drama Festival seminar held last week focused on theatre and Palestinian resistance as model.

Al Rifa and the delegation travelling with him were last January banned from entering Jerusalem at the launch of the ceremonies celebrating Jerusalem as the Arab Culture Capital.