Monday News Headlines

Following are some news headlines related to Kuwait:

• Washington Post Examines Reform and Ideology in Kuwait, Morroco
• Craig Whitlock and Steve Coll, both writers for Washington Post Foreign Service, examine reform steps and the battle of ideology raging in Kuwait and Morocco. "Morocco and Kuwait, monarchies at opposite ends of the Arab world that have moved faster than many of their neighbors to adopt political reforms, offer case studies of how the simultaneous pursuit of democratic change and repression of terrorism has created new sources of tension and uncertainty."
  
• The writers evaluate the ideological battle in Kuwait by pointing to the "recent and unprecedented violence, a long-simmering contest between Islamic groups and urban liberals over Kuwait's political and cultural identity has intensified, just as the wider Arab world debates the risks and benefits of rapid political liberalization."
• They also include some riveting quotes from Dr. Shamlan Al-Essa and Dr. Ahmad Al-Baghdadi. "The government is not strong enough to face all these problems between liberals and Islamists," Baghdadi said. "This is the easiest solution: Everybody shut up," he added. Ex Al-Watan newspaper editor-in-chief Mohammed Al-Jassem accused the government of intimidating "editors and sought broad powers to close newspapers in the name of national security." He added that "the government will use the security issues to implement their dreams of political control."
  
• Other individuals quoted in this article include members of Parliament Naser Al-Sane and Hassan Johar, and director general of the Kuwait Chamber of Commerce and Industry Ahmad Al-Haroun. A very interesting article that sheds light on an an important issue in Kuwait, and the Middle East in general. Washington Post
  
• Dr. Ahmad Al-Baghdadi Changes Course and Decides to Keep Writing
• Being in the middle of the ideological debate in Kuwait, Dr. Ahmad Al-Baghdadi decided to come out of retirement and keep writing his column in the daily Arabic-language newspaper Al-Seyassah. AP through Washington Post
  
• Bodies of 41 Kuwaiti POWs Found in Amarah Mass Grave
• An excavation of a mass grave in the Southern Iraqi town of Amarah uncovered the bodies of 41 Kuwaiti citizens thought to be kidnapped, tortured, and killed during the Iraqi invasion of Kuwait in 1990. 605 Kuwaiti citizens have been missing since that bloody invasion, and to this date, only 231 bodies have been recovered. While mass graves are excavated in Iraq, Saddam sits comfortably in his jail cell, enjoying three meals a day and other amenities provided to him by his masters, the US military. AP through Washington Post