Kuwaiti MPs in Uproar Over Deal With Jordan

KUWAIT CITY, 22 June 2004 — Kuwaiti lawmakers yesterday blasted the government over the reported renewal of an oil grant to Jordan, and accused it of violating the constitution by aiding a country that had backed Saddam Hussein. Veteran opposition MP Ahmed Al-Saadun told Parliament that Kuwait had renewed the 25,000 barrels daily grant for three more years and the emirate was selling the oil and transferring the revenue to Jordan’s central bank.

But Kuwait’s Energy Minister Sheikh Ahmed Fahd Al-Sabah categorically denied the oil grant had been renewed, adding that the issue did not come up for discussion during a two-day visit by King Abdallah to Kuwait earlier this month.