Kuwaiti opposition legislators on Tuesday started quizzing the country's prime minister behind closed doors over allegations of breaching the constitution and suppressing freedoms. "I am ready to be questioned and I want the debate now," Prime Minister Sheikh Nasser Mohammad al-Ahmad al-Sabah, told parliament speaker Jassem al-Khorafi as the session opened.
However, the government demanded the questioning be held in a secret session, a request parliament agreed, AFP reported. The request to quiz the premier was filed by MPs Mussallam al-Barrak, Jamaan al-Harbash and Saleh al-Mulla, who represent the three main opposition liberal, Islamist and nationalist groups and are supported by at least 17 other MPs. This came after Kuwaiti forces used batons to beat up MPs and citizens at a public rally earlier this month, wounding at least four lawmakers and a dozen citizens.
The session was held amid intensified security measures as hundreds of police and special forces deployed in the roads leading to the parliament building in Kuwait City. Some 200 Kuwaitis gathered outside parliament in support of the opposition.
