By Agence France Presse (AFP)

Monday, February 07, 2011

KUWAIT CITY: The Kuwaiti emir accepted the resignation Sunday of the interior minister who quit last month over the death of a detainee allegedly as a result of police torture, a minister said.

“The prime minister informed the cabinet the emir has accepted the resignation of Interior Minister Sheikh Jaber Khaled al-Sabah,” State Minister for Cabinet Affairs Roudhan al-Roudhan told the state-run KUNA news agency.
The emir appointed Sheikh Ahmad Homud al-Sabah, a senior member of the ruling family, as deputy prime minister and new interior minister, Roudhan said.

Sheikh Jaber submitted his resignation on Jan. 13 after the Interior Ministry acknowledged there was a criminal suspicion behind the death of Mohammad Ghazzai al-Mutairi two days earlier at a police station.

Parliamentary and government probe panels found the man had died of severe torture. Sixteen policemen are under interrogation by the public prosecution in connection to his death.

The new interior minister was a top adviser to Kuwait’s Emir Sheikh Sabah al-Ahmad al-Sabah and had previously served as interior minister and as defense minister.

After submitting his resignation, the outgoing interior minister was asked to stay on but three opposition MPs filed to question him in Parliament two weeks ago. With the resignation now accepted, Sheikh Jaber will no longer face a parliamentary questioning.

Several MPs welcomed the resignation and urged the new minister to start comprehensive reforms in the ministry.
But opposition MP Jamaan al-Harbash still called for the resignation of the Cabinet to resolve the political deadlock in the Gulf state. “The acceptance of the minister’s resignation is well overdue, but resolving the country’s political crisis requires the resignation of the government,” he said.

Meanwhile, a Kuwaiti youth group called Sunday for a mass rally outside Parliament for Tuesday to protest the government’s “undemocratic practices” and to press for its ouster.

The group, Fifth Fence, said it is using Twitter to urge people to gather in large numbers for the protest. – AFP