Italians celebrate their National Day in Kuwait

Kuwait's foreign ministry has denied a media report that it has relocated a diplomat from Washington to help him avoid legal procedures for allegedly mistreating the family's domestic helper. "Our lawyers are following the case brought by an Indian domestic helper against our diplomat in the US," sources at the foreign ministry said. "His appointment to another country years ago was within the regular procedures and is not linked in any way to the case," the sources said, quoted by Kuwaiti daily Al Watan on Sunday. The Washington Post on Saturday asked:"Why are diplomats free to abuse in America?", and said that the Kuwaiti diplomat and his wife took "an Indian domestic worker to the United States in 1996 to care for their children and serve as a housekeeper." "In a civil complaint filed in federal court in New York, the domestic worker alleged that she ran away after enduring four years of forced labor, rape and mistreatment by her employers. The plaintiff first filed in 2002, and the court dismissed her case without prejudice in 2005 because of diplomatic immunity. She re-filed in 2006, and the case is still pending." The US daily said that the diplomat "did not face prosecution in the United States; nor was he punished by his employer." "The Kuwaiti government hired a prominent law firm to defend him in the civil case in court filings, he has denied the allegations and then promoted him." However, the Kuwaiti source said that the Indian helper filed the case after the diplomat left the United States. "Domestic helpers often file cases against their employers in the US to benefit from compensation rules," the source that the daily did not identify said. From / Gulf News