Manama: Security authorities in Kuwait have arrested three bloggers for posting comments abusive of the late Saudi king Abdullah Bin Abdul Aziz Al Saud on their Twitter accounts.
Two more bloggers, wanted by the authorities for their comments, are reportedly out of the country.
The public prosecution had ordered the arrests following a complaint by the foreign affairs ministry, sources told local daily Al Jareeda.
The five bloggers face the charge of engaging in an act of animosity against Saudi Arabia through abusing its rulers in a manner that may impact Kuwait’s political relations, the daily said.
A report in another Kuwaiti daily Al Qabas said that 11 people had been arrested over their anti-King Abdullah tweets.
Citing a security source it did not name, the report said that foreigners were among those arrested.
It added that the Kuwaiti nationals would face legal action and that the foreigners would be deported amid a campaign of zero tolerance towards any abuses of neighbouring countries.
In Bahrain, the interior ministry reported on its Twitter account “the arrest of several people for inappropriate and inflammatory social media use.”
The ministry on Sunday said that an investigation had been launched.
The outpour of emotions and expressions of compassion following the death of King Abdullah on Friday has been enormous in both Bahrain and Kuwait whose leaders attended the funeral prayers in the Saudi capital Riyadh.
Messages of condolences and sympathy by social media users went viral on the Internet.
