KUWAIT CITY: Shiite and Sunni MPs fought with fists in Kuwait's parliament Wednesday during a heated debate over inmates in the US Guantanamo detention center, amid rising sectarian tension in the Gulf state. Parliament was holding a debate over two Kuwaiti detainees in the US prison camp in Cuba that Washington has refused to release when Shiite MP Hussein Al-Kallaf provoked some Sunni fellow MPs by dismissing the prisoners as “Al-Qaeda” militants. Chaos erupted when Jamaan Al-Harbash of the Sunni Muslim Brotherhood told Kallaf the debate was not called to discuss Al-Qaeda but Guantanamo prisoners. Two Shiite and four Sunni lawmakers were involved in the fight prompting acting speaker MP Abdullah Al-Rumi to adjourn the session. Later, parliament Speaker Jassem Al-Khorafi, describing the unprecedented fight as “shameful”, adjourned sessions until May 31 and ordered parliament's bureau to investigate. Independent MP Rudhan Al-Rudhan called on the oil-rich emirate's ruler to use his constitutional powers to suspend parliament sessions for one month. Shiite MP Adnan Al-Mutawa, who received a cut under the eye during the scuffle, accused Sunni MPs of not believing in democracy, saying attacking opponent MPs physically “is a form of terrorism.” The debate was attended by a delegation of US lawyers defending the inmates. During the debate, Sunni MPs called on the government to press the United States to free the two Kuwaiti inmates or complain to the International Criminal Court. The fight came amid of heightened sectarian tension between the minority Shiite community and the Sunni majority at the background of local and regional issues. Tensions soared when Shiites and Sunnis clashed over dispatching Gulf troops to Bahrain to crush Shiite-led protests and also after the uncovering of a spy ring allegedly working for the Revolutionary Guards in Iran.
