Kuwait: Parliamentarians demand minister's resignation for corruption

Several Kuwaiti ministers on Monday demanded the Minister Of State For Cabinet Affairs, Muhammad Deif Allah Sharar, to resign, over accusations of corruption and mal-administration.

The Kuwaiti parliament demanded the "accountability court" in December 2004 to investigate accusations that Sharar is responsible for wasting millions of dollars of public funds. In a report, the court confirmed some of the accusations and complained against lack of cooperation from certain government sides.

Parliament member Ali al-Rashed stressed in a parliament session on Monday that the report "confirm our allegations. "The minister should be brave and responsible and submit his resignation," he said noting that he submitted parts of the report to the attorney general to make a criminal investigation.

Islamists parliamentarian Walid al-Tabta' said that the "session is but a historical opportunity to announce war against corruption" stressing that "the minister has to shoulder the responsibility. I recommend him to resign. It is time for him to leave."

Parliamentarians supporting Sharar accused the opposition of targeting the minister for personal reasons and because "he is a Bedouin minister." Sharar had easily survived a previous vote to cast non-confidence in him over the same accusations in March 2003.