Manama: A new Twitter storm is brewing in Kuwait after the Emiri Court condemned a posting targeting the grandsons of Prophet Mohammad (PBUH) and the authorities moved into action to apprehend those behind it.
“The Emiri Diwan has condemned heinous assaults against Al Hassan and Al Hussain, grandsons of Prophet Mohammad (PBUH), and instructed immediate action against those who carried out the attacks,” Kuwait News Agency (Kuna) reported.
Shaikh Ali Jarrah Al Sabah, the Court’s deputy minister, said that the Court condemned the assaults posted on social media websites against Al Hassan and Al Hussain and which aroused the anger of Muslims, the news agency said.
Prompt action was instructed against those who committed the assault, the deputy minister said.
“The Emiri Diwan has full confidence in the common sense of the Kuwaiti people and the fact that such malpractices would not undermine national unity or incite sedition,” he said.
An Arabic local daily said that initial investigations have revealed that the blogger who posted the insulting remarks was not a Kuwaiti national.
“He is a Gulf national and he has never set foot in Kuwait,” Alam Al Youm reported on Sunday, citing a security source.
According to the daily, the team conducting the investigations launched by the interior minister was able to identify the blogger within one hour.
“The interior ministry will now inform his country of origin about the blogger and his contacts,” the source said.
Al Hassan and Al Hussain are highly respected by Muslims and their iconic status meant that attacks on them were assaults on Islamic values.
Last week, a former lawmaker was arrested after allegedly posting remarks that targeted a local tribe.
Mohammad Al Juwaihal, often at the centre of controversies, especially after he was elected on February 2, was arrested hours after the posting of the online abuse that triggered a wave of threats.
The former MP denied he had posted the remarks targeting the tribe.
Several lawmakers from the now-dissolved parliament have pushed for the adoption of a stringent law that would put to death anyone who “insulted” Prophet Mohammad (PBUH), his family or his companions.
The draft passed the legislative body, but has not been endorsed by the Emir amid deep divisions, mainly between conservatives and liberals, about its merits.
