Fate of Mughnieh backers 'undecided'

Kuwait City: During the past two days, Kuwaiti newspapers have published conflicting reports on whether the authorities will deport expatriates who took part in the commemoration of slain Hezbollah commander Emad Mughnieh last month.

While one Arabic-language newspaper said the Minister of Interior has vowed to deport expatriates who participated in eulogising the slain Commander another Arabic language newspaper reported earlier this week that the Minister of Interior said these claims were untrue.

Meanwhile, Kuwait's News Agency (Kuna) has neither confirmed nor denied the reports.

The daily Al Anbaa quoted Kuwait's Minister of Interior Shaikh Jaber Al Khalid Al Sabah on Saturday as saying "there is no intention to deport expatriates who participated in the ceremony glorifying Mughnieh" and refuted all claims saying otherwise.

Al Sabah said: "The Court of Justice is the only authorised body to make such a decision while the Ministry of Interior is only authorised to execute the deportation if legally stipulated."

Meanwhile, Al Watan's report, which was published on Sunday, cited Al Sabah as saying "any expatriate who participated in the commemoration ceremony of Emad Mughnieh will be deported. This decision will be implemented and there is no going back."

The story added the Ministry of Interior was working on identifying involved expatriates as a first step to deporting them. These statements were said to be exclusively made to Al Watan.

Sources from Kuna told Gulf News that Al Watan's reports have been doubted as there was no official statement given by Al Sabah to the state-run agency and there were no follow up stories either in Al Watan or in any other local press.

Kuwaiti local press has been focusing on the involvement of several Shiite MPs along with hundreds of Shiite citizens and expatriates in a ceremony held a few weeks ago to eulogise Mughnieh, who is accused of performing several terrorist acts against Kuwait.

- Laila Ali is a journalist based in Kuwait