KUWAIT:

Kuwaiti divers look for pearls in shells that were picked from the sea during the annual pearl diving season yesterday off the coast of the port city of Khairan, 100 kilometers (62miles) south of Kuwait City. Pearl-diving trips are held annually under the patronage of His Highness the Amir Sheikh Sabah Al-Ahmad Al-Jaber Al-Sabah in order to keep alive traditions that accompanied the once important national trade of pearl diving, prior to the discovery of oil.