Kuwait MPs urge scrapping of all deals with Syria

Five Kuwaiti opposition MPs, including parliament speaker Ahmad al-Saadun, have called for the scrapping of all economic cooperation agreements with Syria

KUWAIT CITY — Five Kuwaiti opposition MPs, including parliament speaker Ahmad al-Saadun, have called for the scrapping of all economic cooperation agreements with Syria, press reports said on Friday.

The five MPs put forward a bill that, if approved, would require the government to cancel a host of agreements and sever diplomatic ties with Damascus, the Alam Al-Yawm newspaper reported.

The bill would also ban all loans to Syria, direct or indirect.

To become law, the bill needs to be passed by the opposition-dominated parliament and then approved by the government.

Among the deals that would be affected is a 2004 investment agreement and several trade agreements signed in the 1990s.

Earlier this month, Kuwait joined other Gulf states in expelling the Syrian ambassador and recalling its own envoy from Damascus.

Kuwaitis have held repeated demonstrations against the deadly crackdown in Syria by President Bashar al-Assad’s regime, which human rights groups say has left more than 7,600 people dead since March last year.