KUWAIT CITY: Kuwait’s appeals court yesterday upheld a life term on two police officers convicted of torturing a citizen to death at a police station two years ago. The court also confirmed jailing three officers for 16 years each, a fourth for 15 years and a fifth for two years and ordered their dismissal from the police force. Two other policemen were each fined 200 dinars ($720), while the remaining 11 defendants were acquitted, including two foreigners who worked at the police station. The verdicts can still be appealed before the Supreme Court. All 20 defendants were charged with torturing four detainees at the police station in January 2011. One of the victims, 35-year-old Mohammad Ghazzai Al Mutairi, died of his injuries. The incident shocked the Kuwaiti public and led to the resignation of former interior minister Sheikh Jaber Khaled Al Sabah, a member of the ruling family. A parliamentary investigation panel at the time found that Mutairi had apparently been subjected to severe torture for six days, including three days in a remote desert location.
Two drone strikes kill five in Yemen
SANA’A/ADEN: At least five people were killed in two drone strikes in south Yemen yesterday in what security and local officials said were attacks on suspected al Qaeda-linked insurgents. The strikes were the first in almost two months by pilotless aircraft against suspected Al Qaeda men in Yemen. The officials said the first drone strike hit a vehicle in a town in Al Bayda province, killing at least two suspected Al Qaeda militants. In the second drone strike, at least three people riding two motorcycles and carrying pistols were killed by a missile in Hadramout province, a security official said, adding that they were suspected members of Al Qaeda.
Kuwait urges Iran to address worries on N-plant
MANAMA: Kuwait urged neighbouring Iran yesterday to cooperate more with the UN nuclear watchdog to allay Gulf Arab concerns about the safety of an Iranian nuclear power plant that lies just across the waterway from the emirate. The Emir H H Sheikh Sabah Al Ahmed Al Sabah said a recent shutdown at the Bushehr plant indicated Tehran had to work with the Vienna-based International Atomic Energy (IAEA) to ensure the safety of the facility near the coastal town of Bushehr. He was speaking in Bahrain at the annual summit of the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC), a grouping of six Gulf Arab countries at odds with Tehran over a series of issues and who see the Islamic Republic as a rival for regional influence. Sheikh Sabah also appealed to Iran to resolve separate long-standing disputes with GCC members. “We renew our calls to our brothers in Iran to respond to our invitations to put an end to pending issues between the GCC countries and Iran ... through direct negotiations or by resorting to international arbitration,” he said.
Agencies
