Kuwaiti Speaker Threatens to Boycott WTO Meeting in QatarKuwaiti National Assembly Speaker Jasim al-Kharafi Monday threatened to boycott an upcoming World Trade Organization (WTO) meeting in Qatar unless Israel is excluded."We should not be there and Kuwait should have a clear position over this issue," al-Kharafi told the official Kuwait News Agency. The speaker made the remarks as the WTO plans to open a ministerial meeting in Qatar's capital Doha in November, when Israeli Minister of Industry and Trade Dalia Itzik is expected to attend the meeting. Qatar was forced to close Israel's trade office in Doha ahead of last November's Islamic summit as conflicts between Israel and Palestinians flared up. The Gulf state, however, has recently said that it would not object Israel's participation in the WTO meeting. This prompted criticism from Kuwaiti lawmakers such as Abdullah al-Naibari and Adnan Abdussamad. Al-Naibari said it "is a shame that Israel attends a conference in a Gulf state," while Abdussamad held that "the sound mind cannot realize Israeli step on an Arab land." "Is this an award for the rapist in return of his massacres ... in the occupied Palestinian lands?" asked Abdussamad. |
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