Manama: Authorities in Tanzania have released a Kuwaiti who had been held in the African country since June for attempting to smuggle out animals.

The Kuwaiti national was allowed to go home on Saturday following great efforts by the Gulf country’s Min-istry of Foreign Affairs, Assistant Foreign Minister for Consular Affairs Sami Abdul Aziz Al Hamad said.

“The Kuwaiti citizen was held since June 23 after he broke Tanzanian laws with respect to taking out certain animals,” Al Hamad said. “The laws regarding such acts stipulate severe jail terms of up to 20 years and heavy financial fines,” he told Kuwait News Agency (Kuna).

Al Hamad said the Kuwaiti embassy in Tanzania had deployed special efforts to secure the release of the detainee, extending his thanks to the Tanzanian officials who interacted with them.

The Kuwaiti foreign ministry urges all Kuwaiti nationals to abide by the laws in Tanzania and to avoid taking out animals or animal organs, Al Hamad said.

People should make sure their hunting permits are valid and comply fully with the local laws in order to avoid possible problems with the law.

“The ministry requests all Kuwaitis to respect the laws of their host country fully and to represent Kuwait in the most honourable manner,” he said.

According to Kuwaiti and Tanzanian reports, a Kuwaiti national appeared before a court in July in the Tan-zanian capital Dar es Salaam to face charges of attempting to smuggle out of the country 173 rare turtles protected under Tanzanian law. The Kuwaiti was accused of conspiracy, organised crime and illegal posses-sion of government property.

A Tanzanian news site said the Kuwaiti was detained at the Tanzanian Julius Nyerere International Airport on June 23 as he was about to fly out of the country to Kuwait.

The customs authorities found in his luggage 173 rare turtles, considered government property and forbid-den under Tanzanian laws to acquire or transfer or disposed of in any way without formal permission from the Ministry of Natural Resources and Tourism in Tanzania.

The website said the authorities also arrested the security officer at the airport on charges of collusion with the suspect.