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The country is headed for a showdown today between the government and liberals, on the one hand pushing for the success of the women's rights draft law and the Islamist-Tribal nexus vowing to block the effort.

Kuwait's Islamic financial institutions currently manage more than $5 billion (Dh18.35 billion) in assets, a bank official said.

Some hardcore Islamists and their supporters have come out strongly against enfranchising Kuwaiti women, calling it a disgrace and a Western idea to damage local norms.

Oil-producing countries must aim for a fair medium-term oil price to protect the world economy.

City Islamists are planning to launch a counter campaign against granting Kuwaiti women full political rights even as the government is garnering support before parliament meets again on March 7.

Kuwait will emphasise tolerance and moderation in its school curriculum in an effort to reform the system and root out extremist ideology, a minister has said.

A meeting between the government and a parliamentary committee dealing with the new press law has hit a snag because of disagreement on jail terms for erring press corps and control on closure of publications.

The time is right for women in Kuwait to vote and the idea does not contradict the teachings of Islam, the Prime Minister said yesterday.

A new Kuwait University campus has been planned at a cost of 1.9 million dinars (about Dh24 million) and Prime Minister Shaikh Sabah Al Ahmad Al Jaber Al Sabah was expected to lay the cornerstone in Shadadiya yesterday.

The government has imposed a travel ban on all 15 members of the recently launched Hizb Al Ummah political party pending a decision by the Constitution Court which is currently determining its legal status.

The number of working Kuwaitis increased by 17,800 during 2004, a 6.6 per cent rise from the previous year, according to statistics provided by the Public Authority for Civil Information.

A Kuwaiti terror suspect sought by security forces for allegedly being the chief of a terror cell in the country was designated a supporter of terrorism on Tuesday by the US Department of the Treasury which ordered the freezing of all his assets.