Tension between Kuwaiti government, candidates over remarks on ruling family

Kuwait prevented three candidates for the Kuwaiti parliament from travelling abroad for insulting the government and saying it had escaped during the invasion by Iraq.

Some deputies said during the electoral campaign that the al-Sabah family only rules Kuwait in peace, asserting that when the invasion came the ruling family was the first to escape.

They added that remaining Kuwaitis did not know whom to consult regarding resistance. And after Kuwait's liberation, the candidates asserted, the ruling family was the first to return to practice power and influence on Kuwait.