Egypt: Malicious sides target ties with Kuwait

Cairo: Egypt has hailed ties with Kuwait as strong, accusing unnamed sides of seeking to disrupt them.

The Egyptian remarks came after calls on social media for torching the Kuwaiti flag.

Egypt’s Foreign Ministry condemned those calls, saying they seek to drive a wedge between the Egyptian and Kuwaiti “brotherly” people.

“Malicious sides stand behind these offences, which take aim at the good relations existing between the two countries,” the ministry added in a statement.

Egypt and Kuwait take pride in their respective communities in each of both countries. “They have a positive role in developing societies where they are living and contribute to the development of relations between the two countries,” the ministry added. Egypt has a large expatriate community in Kuwait.

The Egyptian comment came after the Kuwaiti embassy in Cairo expressed “grave dismay” over the calls for setting the Kuwaiti flag on fire and urged Egyptian authorities to take steps to deter such “rejected practices”.

“This act constitutes a grave and rejected offence to the State of Kuwait and its national symbols,” the embassy said in a statement. “It can negatively reflect on brotherly relations between the two countries,” it added.

“This heinous act has raised grave dismay among the official and popular circles in the State of Kuwait,” the embassy said.