http://news.kuwaittimes.net/2012/11/04/police-choke-protest-with-force-firepower/
Police choke protest with force, firepower KUWAIT: Thousands of opposition supporters staged a protest in Mishref yesterday after a cat-and-mouse chase with police that forced them to change the venue of the procession after police sealed off the original site in Kuwait City. Riot police used stun grenades, smoke bombs and tear gas to disperse the banned demonstration. Meanwhile, HH the Amir yesterday held talks with four opposition figures including two former Islamist MPs over the controversial amendment to the electoral constituency law in the first such meeting with the opposition in over two months. Former MP Khaled Al-Sultan said after the meeting that the Amir said he was convinced about the amendment of the law which reduced the number of candidates a voter can choose from four to one. However, Sultan and Mohammad Hayef said that the Amir will accept any verdict from the constitutional court on the amendment. They gave no further details. The opposition have insisted that the only way to defuse rising tension in the country and stop protests is by withdrawing the amendment and holding the election on the basis of the previous law. Sultan said that the delegation “informed the Amir that the situation in the country is dangerous and proposed that he withdraw the amendment”. The former lawmaker said that he does not know how the youth activists will react when they know there is no intention to withdraw the amendment. Earlier in the day, the Amir received a number of Salafist clerics who also discussed the situation. Hundreds of the special forces and police were deployed around the Arabian Gulf Road where the demonstration was planned to be staged and sealed off almost all roads leading to two sites specified by the organisers. Police strongly dealt with dozens of protesters who arrived at the two sites early and asked them to leave as traffic on the Gulf Road was cut off for several hours. The police heavy presence forced the organisers to change the location to Mishref near the international fairgrounds. The message was sent to supporters of the opposition through their Twitter account. Despite the long distance, tens of thousands managed to reach the site and started the march. Police quickly closed the main entrances to the new site but protesters who were arriving in droves managed to join the procession. Riot police arrived quickly to the scene and began firing tear gas and stun grenades at the crowd who quickly moved south and blocked the Sixth Ring Road, one of the key motorways in Kuwait for around 30 minutes. The Information Ministry had cleared its car park on the command of the National Guard, while a major shopping mall and meeting point along the march route closed early. Interior Minister Sheikh Ahmad Al-Humoud Al-Sabah told official news agency KUNA that security guards would maintain public order and curb any illegal activities. Security forces used tear gas to break up two protests by tens of thousands of demonstrators in the past two weeks in which more than 130 protesters and 16 policemen were injured. But opposition activists were undeterred. “We will continue. The opposition no longer cares about government statements,” said an activist who declined to be named. Barely an hour after it started, organisers called off the demonstration, saying that their message for safeguarding the constitution had been expressed. The move came apparently to prevent police from intensifying its confrontation which could have resulted in casualties. While dispersing, organisers reported that riot police continued to fire tear gas at the protesters, thousands of whom moved to the nearby Sabah Al-Salem area. Riot police units were called to deal with the demonstrators in Sabah Al-Salem but they also dispersed without any incident. Activists said dozens have been arrested while there were no reports about any one wounded. The organisers have not announced plans for new protests. Meanwhile, the foreign ministers of Jordan and Kuwait yesterday categorically denied reports that Jordan had dispatched thousands of riot police to the state to help quell protests. Reports of Jordanian special forces deployed in Kuwait are “utterly baseless”, both the ministers stressed yesterday. “The Kuwaiti Ministry of Interior has issued a clear press release on this matter, in which it clearly defined the situation,” Kuwait’s Deputy Premier and Foreign Minister Sheikh Sabah Al-Khaled Al-Hamad Al-Sabah said. His remarks came during the joint press conference he held alongside his Jordanian counterpart Nasser Judeh after the conclusion of the third meeting of the higher Kuwaiti-Jordanian Committee. “The Interior Ministry represents the Kuwaiti government, in which I am the foreign minister,” Sheikh Sabah underlined. On his part, Judeh labeled as “groundless” all what is being said on social networking websites about tens of thousands of Jordanian troops in Kuwait. “I came here to head my country’s delegation to the third meeting of the higher Kuwaiti-Jordanian Committee, a meeting scheduled months beforehand. To those circulating such reports, please look at my delegation – are there any generals in it?” Describing his country’s relations with Kuwait as “distinguished”, Judeh said a meeting he held with HH the Amir Sheikh Sabah Al-Ahmad Al-Jaber Al-Sabah touched upon deep-seated bilateral relations, during which the minister handed the Amir a letter from King Abdullah II. On the security agreement inked with Jordan earlier today, Sheikh Sabah said “cooperation between the two countries is not a recent one… It goes back since Kuwait’s independence in 1961. It (the agreement) deals with holding training courses and issues of mutual concern of both interior ministries.” By B Izzak, Hanan Al-Saadoun and Agencies [Non-text portions of this message have been removed]
