Kuwait PM quizzed over Iran in secret session

Three opposition MPs on Tuesday quizzed Kuwait's prime minister in a secret session of parliament for allegedly harming national security by favouring ties with Iran over Gulf Arab states. Prime Minister Sheikh Nasser Mohammad al-Ahmad Al-Sabah, a senior member of the ruling family, said he was ready to face questioning as parliament accepted a government request to hold the grilling behind closed doors. The MPs accuse Sheikh Nasser of damaging ties with Kuwait's partners in the Gulf Cooperation Council by failing to promptly dispatch troops as part of the GCC force to Bahrain to help crush Shiite-led protests in the kingdom. They also criticised the prime minister for allowing a visit by Iranian Foreign Minister Ali Akbar Salehi last month which followed statements from Tehran which many in the Gulf found provocative. The session of parliament comes amid heightened sectarian tensions between the oil-rich emirate's Shiite minority and the Sunni majority over regional issues. It was demanded by radical Sunni Islamist MPs Mohammad Hayef and Waleed al-Tabtabai, and independent lawmaker Mubarak al-Waalan, all of whom are staunchly opposed to Iran. In March, a Kuwaiti court sentenced two Iranians and a Kuwaiti to death and two others to life in prison after convicting them of forming a spy ring operating for Iran's Guards. Tehran denied the charges. The two nations returned their ambassadors to their respective capitals last month after a tit-for-tat expulsion of diplomats. The grilling is expected to lead to a motion of non-cooperation with the prime minister, which if passed could lead to his dismissal. Sheikh Nasser, 71, has been fighting non-stop political disputes with opposition in parliament and some members of his cabinet and the ruling family. On Monday, the ruler accepted the resignation of deputy premier Sheikh Ahmad Fahad Al-Sabah who quit over a dispute with the prime minister. Opposition MPs, who have been launching a campaign to oust the prime minister, plan to file more quizzes against him soon even if this quiz fails.