Manama: Kuwait’s government will look into the controversial visit by a lawmaker to the family of a terror suspect in Lebanon, a report published in Kuwait City said.
“The government will during its regular session on Monday discuss the case and will look into ways to take legal action against the visit by MP Abdul Hameed Dashti,” sources told Kuwaiti daily Al Jareeda on Tuesday. “The government will consult with its constitutional and legal advisers and will study the legal texts that will allow it to proceed legally against the visit to the father of Emad Mughniyeh,” the sources that the daily did not name said.
The government has been requested by several lawmakers to take legal action against Dashti for “undermining national unity” and “offending the feelings of the people.”
The lawmaker has been strongly criticised in Kuwait by fellow MPs and social media users after he visited the family of Emad Mughniyeh, the late Hezbollah commander accused of involvement in the hijacking of a Kuwaiti airliner and the assassination attempt against Kuwait’s late Emir Shaikh Jaber Al Ahmad.
The controversy erupted after Dashti posted pictures of him kissing the head of Mughniyeh’s father and sitting with members of the family.
On Monday, MP Ahmad Mutai requested the parliament Speaker Marzouq Al Ganem to call for a special meeting of the parliament bureau to take action against Dashti.
In his statement, Mutai said the government should move swiftly against the visit and the “despicable” attitudes by Dashti.
A parliament bureau officer, however, said that lawmakers cannot take any measure against Dashti.
“The parliament bylaws do not allow any legal measures or action against a lawmaker for statements made outside the building,” the officer said.
MP Mubarak Al Harais said that the government should apply the law and take action against Dashti.
However, Dashti said that the onslaught on him after his visit to the Mughniyeh home was orchestrated by “small minds” and was “in concordance with the Zionist principles”.
One lawyer said he wanted to be appointed by the family of one of the victims of the plane hijacking to file a legal suit against Dashti.
Mughniyeh is accused of being involved in the hijacking on April 5, 1988 of a Kuwait Airways jumbo jet on its way from Bangkok, Thailand, to Kuwait. The hijacking was carried out by several Lebanese guerrillas who demanded the release of 17 Shiite prisoners held by Kuwait for their role in the 1983 bombings.
The aircraft was forced to land in Iran, and then it travelled from Mashhad in northeastern Iran to Larnaca, Cyprus, and finally to Algiers.
