RAMALLAH, West Bank: An official close to the Palestinian prime minister says he is threatening to resign.
The official says Salam Fayyad believes he has not received enough support from other political factions as he steers the Palestinian Authority through an economic crisis.
The official says Fayyad and President Mahmoud Abbas will discuss the resignation later. The official spoke on condition of anonymity because he was not authorised to talk to the media.
Fayyad, an internationally-respected economist, has been forced to raise taxes and delay salary payments to civil servants because of the financial crisis. He says he has no choice because foreign donors have not delivered promised aid. But public protests led by Abbas’ Fatah faction have blamed Fayyad.
Abbas’s office denies Fayyad is threatening to resign.
Kuwait charges opposition leader
for insulting emir
KUWAIT: Kuwaiti prosecutors have charged an opposition leader with insulting the ruler, a defence lawyer said yesterday, in a case likely to fuel tension before a parliamentary election on December 1.
Musallam Al Barrak, an outspoken former member of parliament was picked up from his home on Monday night, two weeks after an opposition rally at which he made rare critical remarks about the emir of Kuwait, H H Sheikh Sabah Al Ahmad Al Sabah.
Prosecutors have charged Barrak with encroaching on the pillars of the emirate, insulting the emir and infringing his authorities, said the lawyer, who asked not to be named.
He said prosecutors had ordered Barrak held for 10 days pending investigation and transferred him to the central prison.
While Kuwait allows more free speech than some of its neighbours, the constitution says the emir is “immune and inviolable”. Insulting him carries a penalty of up to five years in jail.
At the rally, Barrak had appealed directly to the 83-year-old Sheikh Sabah to avoid “autocratic rule”.
Three other former lawmakers were earlier detained on similar charges, questioned and freed on bail pending trial, scheduled to start on November 13.
CIA head in Egypt for security talks
CAIRO: Egyptian officials say United States Central Intelligence Director David Petraeus is in Cairo for security talks. They say Petraeus arrived yesterday, leading a US delegation that will meet with top Egyptian security officials to exchange information about combating terrorism.
The officials spoke on condition of anonymity because they were not authorised to speak to reporters. A US Embassy spokesman declined to give information about the visit. The visit comes as Egypt is clamping down on suspected militants.
Last week, Egyptian security forces identified a Libyan militant, killed after detonating a bomb during a raid, as suspected of links to the deadly attack on the US mission in Benghazi on September 11 which left four Americans dead, including the US Ambassador Chris Stevens.
Agencies
