KUWAIT CITY: Veteran opposition MP Ahmad Al-Saadun on Tuesday questioned the oil minister about allegations of smuggling large quantities of diesel to neighboring Iraq under US military protection.
In written questions to Oil Minister Sheikh Ahmad Abdullah Al-Sabah, the MP cited a confidential report sent by the interior ministry to the oil ministry that diesel worth $2.5 million is smuggled daily to Iraq.
Based on the report, the fuel is transported by large tankers through a border crossing reserved for US troops in Abdali, north of Kuwait City, under US military protection to merchants in Iraq.
The MP did not say for how long the smuggling has been going on or if it had been stopped, but added that it involved Kuwaiti companies that have export licences to Iraq.
The fuel was bought from privately-run petrol stations in the emirate, Saadun quoted the report as saying. Fuel is sold in Kuwait at highly-subsidized prices and smuggling to other countries is a profitable business.
