Kuwait slaps blackout on ‘plot’ video

Attorney-general bans publication of information on the video

kuwait city — Kuwait has imposed a news blackout on an investigation into reports of a recording that implicates unnamed people in an alleged plot to overthrow the ruling system, state news agency Kuna said.

Kuwait’s public prosecutor opened a case in December after a legal complaint which demanded an investigation into tweets about the alleged recording.

The topic has featured extensively in local media and prompted a rare statement from the ruler’s office this week, which told people to stop discussing the case in order to preserve national unity.

Kuwait has a lively press and an open political system thanks to its elected parliament. The 50-member assembly can question government ministers and block legislation, while the Amir has final say in state affairs.

The attorney-general ordered that the investigation be made secret and banned publishing any information on “the existence of a tape that contains information and statements implicating some people of conspiring to overthrow the ruling system in the country and challenge the rights and authority of his highness the Amir,” according to the statement carried by Kuna.

The statement, published late on Thursday, said all forms of communication were banned from discussing the case, including news outlets and social media. Such rumours were damaging to the country’s interests, it said.

It said the prosecutor would inform media about the results of the case once the investigation was over. It came one day after the statement from the Amir’s office.

The Amir, His Highness Shaikh Sabah Al Ahmad Al Sabah, came to power in 2006 after his ailing predecessor stepped down.

Earlier on Wednesday, Kuwait’s royal court appealed for calm as the country was abuzz with rumours about a videotape allegedly showing former senior officials plotting to overthrow the government.

The appeal comes two days after Shaikh Ahmad Fahad Al Sabah, a senior member of the family and former minister, was questioned by the public prosecutor for five hours about the tape, which he said he had handed over to Kuwait’s leaders. —