KUWAIT CITY: Kuwaiti Shiite parliamentarian Saleh Ashour bombarded Deputy Prime Minister and Interior Minister Sheikh Ahmed Al-Hamoud Al-Sabah with 30 parliamentary questions this week on various issues, including the ministry’s procedures in dealing with Shiite clerics traveling from Kuwait International Airport.

According to reports Ashour questioned Al-Sabah on the legal basis for obligating Kuwaiti citizens to acquire official permission from the Interior Ministry to enter neighboring Iraq by land and why this permission is not required when traveling by plane. He alleged citizens have been complaining that the Abdalli land port with Iraq is inhumanly treating travelers with its procedures by making them wait for long hours until permission is granted for them to leave.

Furthermore, Ashour said that the Interior Ministry has specific security measures in dealing with Kuwaiti Shiite clerics in the airport apart from other citizens. “Why this specific treatment and who set those procedures and why? Why Shiite clerics are apart from others since all information is available on the computer? Why are passports and airline tickets photographed?” he asked.