CAIRO: Kuwait's decision to arrest and deport expatriate supporters of Egyptian opposition candidate Mohamed ElBaradei not only raised controversy among Egyptian, Kuwaiti and international human rights organizations, but also took the Egyptian independent newspapers by storm, where several independent writers from the opposition denounced the Kuwaiti action in their columns last week. The Egyptian independent media considered deporting the supporters of ElBaradei as paying a compliment to the Egyptian regime. Their words came after the Kuwaiti authorities arrested Egyptian citizens on April 8. Kuwaiti security forces then detained over half of approximately 30 people who met on April 9 to discuss the arrests and deported as many as 21 Kuwaiti residents with Egyptian citizenship, over a period of 48 hours. The action was not followed by any response from the Egyptian Ministry of Foreign Affairs. On the evening of April 9, a group of approximately 30 individuals met in front of the Sultan Center supermarket and restaurant in the Salmiya area of Kuwait to discuss a response to the first three arrests. The National Association for Change, a group formed by ElBaradei, posted the meeting and details on its website. Participants had not met each other before. According to one attendee, state security officers suddenly converged upon those assembled, seizing between 15 and 20 of those present. Mohamed ElBaradei, the former director of the International Agency for Atomic Energy (IAEA) met with members of the National Assembly for change on April 11 at his home to discuss the situation of the Egyptians deported from Kuwait and described deporting Egyptians who were about to hold a peaceful meeting in Kuwait as “gross injustice” and urged their return back to the Gulf state for humanitarian reasons. Karim Abdel-Salam wrote in his column in al-Youm al-Saba`a that the “justification of the Kuwaiti Authorities for deporting the supporters of ElBaradei is that Kuwait appreciates and respects Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak and wouldn’t allow anyone to disturb the Egyptian regime, not to mention that the supporters didn’t get a permission for the rally, as a kind of harsh compliment and supporting to the regime.” Abdel Salam added that this situation puts the Egyptian Foreign Ministry “in an awkward position and forced to issue a statement denying involvement the deportation of the supporters.” He added that “we beg the Arab brothers not to compliment the Egyptian regime, as it brings on the desired results.” Ibrahim Mansour, Executive Editor of the daily Independent al-Dustour, wrote in his daily column that “Kuwait has waived its democracy in dealing with a group of Egyptian activists who were concerned with the affairs of their country, even though Kuwait is a democratic Gulf country that has an an elected parliament representing multiple directions and various political trends. “Strangely, no one moves from the Egyptian government or the Ministry of Foreign Affairs to reject the way the Kuwaiti Authorities dealt with those Egpytians … and to protest insulting and deporting those Egyptians.” He added that the move comes as “no surprise. Did they do anything to preserve the rights of Egyptian workers from the sponsors or who have been subjected to lashings in Saudi Arabia? No. It is the culture of tyranny and oppression.” Hassan Nafa'a, also a member of the National Assembly for Change, addressed the issue in his al-Masry al-Youm column, saying that arresting a number of Egyptians working in Kuwait and deporting them, in less than 24 hours, “just because they tried to express their support for the National Assembly for change is a violent act, cruel and unjustified behavior that implies an unacceptable affront to the Egyptian people.” He added that “I have no doubt that the position of the government of Kuwait towards Egyptian citizens is like a compliment to an authoritarian government at the expense of peaceful people and an interference in an internal affair.” Some Kuwaiti newspapers handled the issue in a manner tended toward condemnation, emanating from either side of its commitment to a formal or legal respect for the law, which prohibits foreigners to demonstrate, according to Egyptian newspapers' review of the Kuwaiti press. Al-Kabass newspaper, in its coverage of the case, under the title “Security Source: Who wants political action must go to his own country of origin” said that the Kuwaiti authorities were acting according to the law of the country. BM
