Kuwait summons Egypt's envoy over 'offensive statement'

By Mohamed Abdelghaffar and Talal Aref

KUWAIT CITY (AA) - Kuwait on Friday summoned the Egyptian ambassador over what it called an "offensive statement" by an Egyptian official.

Kuwaiti Deputy Foreign Minister Khaled Al-Jarallah expressed to Ambassador Tariq Al-Kuni “the country’s condemnation, resentment and rejection of such offensive remarks by Egypt’s assistant manpower minister," according to a Foreign Ministry statement.

The statement said that the official’s offensive "targeted Kuwait and its symbols.”

Al-Jarallah also demanded that Egyptian authorities take legal action against the official.

On Thursday, Egypt’s Manpower Ministry said it received a report of a Kuwaiti citizen assaulting a female Egyptian doctor.

The report said that the Kuwaiti offender locked the doctor in a room with no cameras and started beating her, leaving her bruised and injured.

Some half a million Egyptians work in Kuwait, the largest group of foreign nationals working in the country.

* Ahmed Asmar contributed to this report from Ankara