Sunday, June 3 11:07 PM SGT

Kuwait slams Palestinian "scum" who burnt emirate's flag

KUWAIT CITY, June 3 (AFP) -

Kuwait's foreign minister on Sunday blasted the Palestinian "scum" who burnt the emirate's flag during the Jerusalem funeral of senior Palestinian official Faisal al-Husseini.

"Those who burnt the Kuwaiti flag during the funeral are scum who do not represent the Palestinian people," said Sheikh Sabah al-Ahmad al-Sabah, quoted in newspapers.

He said the incident at Friday's emotional funeral for Husseini, who died of a heart attack during a visit to Kuwait the day before, was tantamount to "a flagrant attack on the dignity of Kuwait".

The emirate would lodge a strong protest "if it turns out that organised groups were behind this act", the foreign minister warned.

The head of Palestinian leader Yasser Arafat's mainstream Fatah group in southern Lebanon pointed a finger of blame at Kuwait for the death of 60-year-old Husseini.

"We do not exonerate the state of Kuwait from its direct responsibility in the death of our martyr Faisal al-Husseini, and we hold it responsible for all the provocations which targeted him," said Sultan Abul Aynain on Thursday, the day of Husseini's death.

Husseini, the top PLO official for Jerusalem, died of a heart attack in his Kuwait City hotel room after attending an anti-Israel conference.

He was the first senior Palestinian official in 11 years to visit the emirate, which accused the Palestinians of supporting Iraq's August 1990 invasion of Kuwait.

The Kuwaiti cabinet in its weekly meeting Sunday paid tribute to Husseini for his "distinguished role in the struggle for the Palestinian cause and the holy city of Jerusalem".

In the Kuwaiti parliament, meanwhile, nine Kuwaiti MPs opposed to ties with Arafat's Palestinian Authority (PA) called for a debate on what they termed government efforts to normalise ties with the Palestinians.

The group, led by former speaker Ahmad al-Saadun, said the Kuwaiti government was in contact with the PA despite "its disgraceful position of backing the Iraqi invasion of Kuwait".

A day before Husseini's death, MPs told Husseini during a meeting with the parliamentary committee for foreign affairs that Arafat remains "persona non grata" in Kuwait.

Husseini also held talks with Kuwait's minister of state for foreign affairs, Sheikh Mohammad al-Sabah.

-- Anonymous, June 03, 2001