Last Thursday, Kuwaiti authorities uncovered almost 20,000 kilograms of ammunition and 144 kilograms of explosives and arrested three men, with Kuwaiti daily Al-Anba reporting the plot was linked to Hezbollah.
Days later, Kuwaiti dailies Al-Rai and Al-Qabas said that weapons and explosives had been shipped from Iran—Hezbollah’s top ally—to Kuwait by sea.
Reports regarding the arms cache and Hezbollah’s purported role dried up in the Kuwaiti press starting Monday after the country’s public prosecutor issued a gag order against publishing reports on the issue.
“Talks surrounding this topic are detrimental to the public interest and the ongoing investigation and harm the national interests of the country,” Darar al-Asousi said in his order.
Alaraby Aljadeed on Wednesday reported that Kuwait “was taking a very calculated approach” to the arms cache and Hezbollah’s purported involvement to avoid any retribution.
According to the London-based daily, Kuwaiti diplomats have informed Lebanese figures, especially in the pro-Western March 14 alliance, that the issue must not be used to criticize Hezbollah.
“This is out of concern for a set of Kuwaiti interests in Lebanon,” a Kuwaiti diplomat reportedly said.
In turn, an unidentified member of the March 14 alliance—Hezbollah’s political rivals in Lebanon—told the newspaper that the Kuwaiti authorities are very worried about the magnitude of any potential response by Hezbollah, noting Kuwait’s concern for its interests in Lebanon and the safety of Kuwaiti subjects in Beirut.
The March 14 member said that when talking to a Kuwaiti diplomat about how Lebanon should approach the issue, the latter had pointed to the kidnapping of a Kuwaiti citizen in 2014 and expressed concern that Kuwaiti citizens in the country could become targets.
In late August 2014, Kuwaiti national Masfar al-Hajiri was kidnapped in the Bekaa Valley’s Baalbek, before being released months later for a large ransom.
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