Police battle protesters in Kuwait

Kuwaiti riot police on Sunday fought with tens of thousands of angry protesters, using tear gas, sound bombs and rubber bullets as activists reported several people injured and many arrests, witnesses said. They said they saw at least 10 men on the ground apparently after inhaling tear gas, and former MP Abdullah al-Barghash told AFP he saw injured men being taken to hospital in ambulances. Barghash and other activists put the number of protesters at more than 100,000, which would be the largest gathering in the history of the Gulf state, but independent onlookers estimated the crowd at more than 30,000. Police made no estimate. "The way demonstrators were dealt with is unprecedented in Kuwait," Barghash said as he led several hundred protesters, some wearing orange straps to signify the call for change. The head of the Kuwait Society for Human Rights, Mohammad al-Humaidi, said on Twitter that 17 protesters were detained at a police station in Kuwait City. Organisers of the "Dignity of a Nation" demonstration announced on its Twitter account the end of the procession more than three hours after it started. The main bulk of protesters left the scene and a group of around 3,000 headed to the parliament building where they gathered briefly before dispersing peacefully, witnesses said. The opposition called the demonstration to protest against a decision by Emir Sheikh Sabah al-Ahmad al-Sabah to amend the electoral law. Activists claim the change is aimed at electing a rubber-stamp parliament. "The people want to abolish the decree," chanted the protesters marching in the street which was blocked by riot police. The demonstrators were due to march on the Seif Palace which houses offices for the emir, crown prince and prime minister, but were prevented by police. Organisers later asked protesters to gather at an alternative site in the capital where demonstrators cut off the country's key seaside Arabian Gulf Road for several hours. Masked police in full riot gear repeatedly fired tear gas and sound bombs and later used rubber bullets to disperse the crowds led by former opposition MPs. "It looks like a battlefield," Mohammad Rashed, a private sector employee, told AFP as he left the scene, accompanied by his wife and other relatives. As the clashes took place, the emir received members of the Al-Sabah ruling family who reiterated their loyalty to him, official news agency KUNA reported. Earlier, riot police beat protesters gathering for the demonstration, organisers and witnesses said, with security in Kuwait City having been beefed up by hundreds of policemen and dozens of patrols. Several people including former Islamist MP Waleed al-Tabtabai were arrested, organisers said on their Twitter account. Witnesses told AFP that riot police used smoke bombs to disperse crowds who began to gather at the three designated demonstration sites. Organisers had expected the protest to be "the biggest procession in the history of Kuwait," and urged people to remain peaceful after a stern warning by authorities that they would prevent any "illegal" demonstration. Police cordoned off empty areas along the demonstration routes in an apparent bid to limit protester numbers by restricting parking, an AFP correspondent reported. The protest was called by the Islamist and nationalist-led opposition in protest at a the emir's decision to amend the electoral law, despite it having been confirmed by a court last month. The opposition, which has decided to boycott polls called for December 1, said amending the electoral law amounted to a coup against the constitution. In the latest clampdown on opposition leaders and activists, the public prosecution service issued an arrest warrant for a member of the scrapped 2012 parliament, Osama al-Munawer. Munawer joins three former opposition MPs who have been in detention since Thursday. The prosecution on Sunday extended their detention by 10 days, according to Al-Humaidi al-Subaie, one of their defence lawyers. Political tension has strongly impacted the Kuwait Stock Exchange which shed 3.05 percent at the start of the business week on Sunday, the biggest single day loss in more than three years. The wrangling in the OPEC member has stalled development despite abundant oil-driven surpluses of more than $400 billion.