Kuwait City: Kuwaiti authorities arrested
several people when hundreds of angry Syrians and local
activists stormed the Syrian embassy in the Gulf state on Saturday,
the interior ministry said.
"A group of Syrian expats stormed the Syrian embassy in
Kuwait, removed the flag and destroyed utilities," the
ministry said in a statement.
Security personnel assigned to guard the embassy "fired
warning gunshots" but protesters still stormed the embassy
which eventually left a number of Kuwaiti security men
injured, the ministry said.
Earlier, the independent Kuwait Association for Human
Rights said on its Twitter page that at least two protesters
were injured in the scramble to flee after embassy guards
fired gunshots into the air.
In its statement, the interior ministry said that the
Syrian ambassador and other embassy staff escaped unhurt.
Police arrested a number of those who stormed the
mission, including several Kuwaitis and authorities were still
looking for others, it said.
Kuwaiti activist Abdulaziz al-Mutairi was among those
arrested, his friends said in messages posted on Twitter.
Newly elected Islamist MP Osama Munawer called in a
statement for the "immediate release of those arrested."
Kuwaiti activists meanwhile called for another protest at
the Syrian embassy later in the day.
The demonstration took place after Syrians and activists
used Twitter to appeal for the gathering to be held after dawn
Muslim prayers, following news about a massacre in Homs.
About 100,000 Syrians work and live in Kuwait.
The demonstration occurred amid reports that Syrian
forces killed more than 200 civilians, including women and
children, in a "massacre" in the central city of Homs, ahead
of a United Nations vote on the repression.
PTI
First Published: Saturday, February 04, 2012, 17:53