Kuwaiti MP withdraws from Asian talks to protest Syrian attendance

Kuwaiti MP Madhi Al-Hajeri on Monday walked out of a meeting of the Asian Parliamentary Assembly's social and cultural affairs committee in protest of participation by a delegation representing the Syrian parliament. In a statement to KUNA, Al-Hajeri said he pulled out of the meeting when the Syrian delegation showed up in the hall. "What is happening in Syria is sheer terrorism perpetrated by the regime," said the Kuwaiti legislator. "A recently-issued report by the UN Commissioner for Human Rights affirmed existence of compelling evidences incriminating Syrian President Bashar Al-Assad and affirming his responsibility for committing war crimes and crimes against humanity," he said. Parliament member Al-Hajeri called for an urgent political settlement to "lift the injustice afflicting the Syrian people." As to today's meeting, he said Abdullah Al-Huwail of the Bahraini parliamentary delegation was elected as chairman of the commission, and that Iran was named its rapporteur. Participants in the meeting discussed several draft resolutions, dealing with protection of cultural diversity in Asia, plans to face challenges, creating jobs, enforcing justice, combating corruption and illegal narcotics' trade.