Kuwait MPs annoyed with Allawi

Lawmakers yesterday blasted the government administration as incompetent, charged there was widespread corruption and criticised the state budget for not being development-oriented.

They also strongly criticised Iraq's interim Prime Minister Iyad Allawi for failing to thank Kuwait in his first official address soon after taking office on Monday following the transition of power to Iraqis.

"A large number of Kuwaiti people are annoyed about the first address of Allawi in which he forgot to mention the role of Kuwait" in liberating Iraq, Islamist MP Nasser Al Sane said.

"The Kuwaiti government must slow down its steps towards Iraq. We should hear clear words from the (Iraqi) premier. Everyone is asking why did he mention every country and forget Kuwait," Sane asked.

"I hope it was a slip of the tongue and I hope he will rectify it. The Kuwaiti people are blaming their government. We should not accept that Kuwait's name is ignored under international or regional pressure," he added.

He was commenting on the first address by Allawi in which he is reported to have thanked every country that contributed to the toppling of former president Saddam Hussain but forgot Kuwait.

Prime Minister Sheikh Sabah Al Ahmed Al Sabah later said that Kuwait was mainly interested in seeing a more stable Iraq.

Responding to a question on Kuwait's attitude towards Allawi's speech, Sheikh Sabah noted that what mattered currently was that Iraqis started arranging their domestic front to achieve security and stability for the Iraqi people.

The author is an Arab journalist based in Kuwait