Kuwait bans Saudi singers from National Day celebrations

Kuwait’s Ministry of Information has banned Saudi Arabian singers Rabeh Saqr and Majid Al-Muhandis from performing at the Gulf State’s National Day celebrations, local media reported on Friday. The move apparently comes after the two re-tweeted what is regarded as an abusive message from a Saudi official.

According to Thenewkhalij.org, the singers retweeted a message posted by the Head of the Saudi Arabian Sports Commission, Turki Al-Shaikh, in which he described the Kuwaiti Minister Khalid Al-Ridwan as a “mercenary” after a visit to the Emir of Qatar, Tamim Bin Hamad Al-Thani.

A Saudi journalist then claimed that two other Saudi singers, along with a Bahraini, decided not to take part in the Kuwaiti celebrations due to the state “abusing” Saqr and Al-Muhandis.

Read: Kuwait protests at ‘insult’ by Saudi official

Early on Friday, a senior Saudi source said that the Minister of Information and Culture in Riyadh, Awwad Al-Awwad, had asked the Saudi singers to accept all Kuwaiti invitations to take part in the National Day celebrations.