MP Dr Waleed Al-Tabatabae

KUWAIT: MP Dr Waleed Al-Tabatabae suggested yesterday that the governments withdraws the Kuwaiti nationality from citizens convicted in the Abdali cell case, saying that their crimes amount to acts of treason. "The cassation court's ruling states that the convicts planned to overthrow the ruling system, contacted foreign parties, and promoted the Iranian Revolution's ideologies, which all are considered acts of treason," he said in a statement yesterday, arguing that the convicts "do not deserve the honor of holding the Kuwaiti nationality."

Square one

Meanwhile, MP Rakan Al-Nisf criticized Tabatabae's call and said that citizenship should be kept away from political struggle. "Calls to revoke the nationalities of convicts in the Abdali cell case take us back to square one when the government used the revocation as a weapon against adversaries," Nisf said. The lawmaker argued however that should revoking the citizenships of Abdali cell convicts be considered, then the same should be applied to convicts who were found guilty for joining the Islamic State (IS) and Al-Qaeda "and threatening the state's national security."

National Assembly Speaker Marzouq Al-Ghanem had announced Sunday that he sent invitations to MPs and Cabinet members to attend a meeting today to "discuss the issue of fugitives from justice," in reference to the Abdali cell convicts who remain at large. "The meeting has been requested by a number of MPs to mull over regional developments, including the Al-Abdali terror cell and all those escaping justice," Ghanem said.

Expat teachers

Minister of Education and Minister of Higher Education Dr Mohammad Al-Fares denied reports which speculated that a number of expatriate teachers working in public schools in Kuwait have filed cases in international courts demanding being paid equally with their Kuwaiti counterparts. The reports had suggested that the teachers sought to be paid retroactively the same payments that Kuwaiti teachers receive from the government. Fares said however that no actual complaints were lodged as far as the ministry's knowledge.

By A Saleh, Staff Writer