First female minister quits after fire

Kuwait City: Kuwait appointed an acting health minister on Saturday to replace Massouma Al Mubarak, who resigned after a hospital fire killed two patients, government sources said.

Massouma, who was one of two women ministers in the Cabinet, tendered her resignation on Friday after a fire broke out last week at a government hospital.

Parliamentarians welcomed the resignation, accepted by Crown Prince Shaikh Nawaf Al Ahmad Al Sabah. They said they held the government responsible for the fire and said it should appoint a new minister from the health sector.

Information minister Abdullah Al Muhailbi was appointed as acting health minister, the government sources said.

Two members of parliament presented a motion to question Massouma - the state's first female minister - about the fire, which broke out at a hospital in the town of Al Jahra about 30km west of the capital.