Around 100 protesters and 11 policemen were hurt on Sunday as Kuwaiti
riot police used tear gas and rubber bullets in clashes with tens of thousands
of demonstrators, witnesses and officials said.
"The number of wounded protesters in hospital has exceeded 100
after riot police attacked them," director of the Kuwait Society for Human Rights Mohammad al-Humaidi said on his Twitter account. The interior ministry said in a statement that
11 policemen were wounded after protesters threw rocks on them, adding that
police only acted after protesters became violent.
Former opposition MP Abdullah al-Barghash told AFP he saw injured men
being taken to hospital in ambulances. Dozens of protesters were also arrested,
some of them after they were beaten up in one of the most violent protests in
Kuwait. Those arrested include former Islamist MP Waleed al-Tabtabai.
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.
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. Former Islamist MP Jamaan al-Harbash declared a victory
for the people and a defeat for the regime and "these protests will not
stop until the nation restores its dignity".
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, in power for over 250 years, who reiterated their loyalty to him,
official news agency KUNA 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.
Times of India
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