Kuwait protests after Saudi adviser ‘insults’ minister on Twitter

Kuwait has protested to Saudi Arabia over insulting tweets made by a senior adviser to the Saudi royal court against one of its commerce minister, who had recently paid a visit to Qatar.

Kuwait Deputy Foreign Minister Khaled al-Jarallah said Wednesday that he had conveyed his country’s complaint to the Saudi ambassador in Kuwait after Saudi adviser, Turki al-Shaikh, used his Twitter page to post insults against Kuwaiti Commerce Minister Khaled al-Roudhan, AFP reported.

The Saudi adviser, who also heads the country’s sports authority, had described Roudhan as a “mercenary” in a Twitter post a few days ago.

“We have expressed our regret and blame over the insult against Khaled al-Roudhan, a minister who enjoys the full trust of all in Kuwait,”  Jarallah said.

Meanwhile, Kuwait dismissed reports that it summoned Saudi Ambassador to Kuwait Abdulaziz al-Fayez for meeting with Jarallah over the tweets, saying it was just an ordinary meeting between the two officials, according to Kuwait’s official KUNA state news agency.

The tweet came after Roudhan, who is also the minister of youth, visited Qatar last week to thank its emir for helping lift an international ban on Kuwaiti football.

Jarallah said the tweet could undermine “the close and distinguished ties” between Kuwait and Riyadh.

In one of the worst diplomatic dispute to hit the Persian Gulf region in decades, Saudi Arabia, Egypt, Bahrain and the UAE slapped a trade and diplomatic embargo on Qatar, accusing Doha of supporting terrorism, an allegation strongly denied by the emirate.

The Saudi-led bloc presented Qatar with a list of demands, among them downgrading ties with Iran, and gave it an ultimatum to comply with them or face consequences.

Doha, however, refused to meet the demands and said that they were meant to force the country to surrender its sovereignty.

Kuwait has been trying to mediate an end to the diplomatic tensions between Qatar and the Saudi-led quartet of boycotters.