By B Izzak

KUWAIT: MPs on Sunday vented anger over the reported beating of several Kuwaiti students by Egyptian security guards, vowing they will raise the issue during the National Assembly session on Tuesday. The lawmakers were upset mainly at a statement issued by the Kuwaiti Embassy in Cairo, which blamed the students for quarreling and called on them to respect Egyptian laws. Some MPs demanded the removal of the ambassador.

The Kuwaiti students were first involved in a fistfight among themselves at a commercial mall in Alexandria. They were separated by Egyptian security, who beat them in public. The students were later interrogated by police and freed. The Kuwaiti foreign ministry later issued another statement in which it strongly criticized Egyptian security men for beating the students and called on authorities to investigate. The ministry also called the Egyptian ambassador in the country and called for a probe.

The statement said Kuwaiti Deputy Foreign Minister Mansour Al-Otaibi communicated with Egyptian Ambassador to Kuwait Osama Shaltout, calling on Egyptian authorities to take official and legal action. The Kuwaiti official also called on Egyptian authorities to carry out investigations into the case, bring the perpetrators to accountability and take necessary measures to deter such unacceptable individual behaviors that do not reflect fraternal relations between Kuwait and Egypt. The Kuwaiti official told the Egyptian ambassador that the foreign ministry, in collaboration with the Kuwaiti Embassy in Cairo, would follow up the required action to be taken by Egyptian authorities.

MP Hamad Al-Matar said he will file a motion at the start of the session demanding a debate on the incident, adding that the assault on Kuwaiti students should be condemned by the foreign ministry, which should demand the security men be penalized. He also called on the foreign ministry to summon the Egyptian ambassador.

MP Abdulkarim Al-Kandari said the foreign ministry must deal with the Kuwaiti envoy in Cairo because he condemned the students rather than assisting them. He said that the fighting among the students does not give anyone the right to beat them. MP Khaled Al-Otaibi criticized the attack and also blasted the Kuwaiti ambassador for blaming the students.

Meanwhile, National Assembly Speaker Ahmad Al-Saadoun sent out the agenda of the regular sessions for Tuesday and Wednesday, which are expected to debate crucial issues, including a draft law calling on the government to purchase over KD 14 billion in bank loans owed by Kuwaiti citizens. MP Faisal Al-Kandari said the issue is very crucial and must be debated on Tuesday, adding the report putting the size of the debt at KD 14.6 billion is incorrect.

He explained the draft law calls on the government to purchase the principal of the loans from local banks, which it has supported with billions of dinars, and then scrap the value of interest. The government will also deduct the KD 120 monthly cost of living allowance from debtors until they repay the value of the loan. He added the bill wants the government to purchase consumer and personal loans, which are less than KD 2 billion, and their value will decrease after the purchase.