Cabinet OKs new key appointments

The cabinet has approved the appointment of Lieut. Gen. Abdulrahman Al-Othman as the chief of the army general staff and Justice Salah Al-Masad as chairman of the Fatwa and Legislation Department. The move was taken during a weekly cabinet meeting held at Al-Seif Palace on Sunday under chairmanship of His Highness the Prime Minister Sheikh Jaber Mubarak Al-Hamad Al-Sabah. The appointment decrees were consequently sent to His Highness the Amir Sheikh Sabah Al-Ahmad Al-Jaber Al-Sabah for final approval, Minister of State for Cabinet Affairs and Minister of Health Sheikh Mohammad Abdullah Al-Mubarak Al-Sabah said in remarks. During the meeting, the ministers discussed preparations for a planned tour by His Highness the Prime Minister to India and Pakistan, primarily aiming to bolster and cement cooperative ties between Kuwait and the two friendly countries, the minister said. Sheikh Jaber's accompanying delegation includes Deputy Prime Minister and Foreign Minister Sheikh Sabah Khaled Al-Hamad Al-Sabah, Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Oil Mustafa Al-Shimali and several other senior state officials, he added. The ministers were then apprised of several letters recently sent to His Highness the Amir by the leaders of Gabon, Cape Verde, C`te d'Ivoire and China, thanking him for invitations to attend the Afro-Arab summit due here on November 18-20. They were also briefed on a letter recently sent to His Highness the Prime Minister by Pakistani Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif, inviting him to visit Pakistan, together with another letter by UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon, thanking Kuwait for agreeing to host an international donor conference for Syria early next year, Sheikh Mohammad noted. Also during the meeting, His Highness the Prime Minister kept the ministers posted on the outcomes of the recent visit to Kuwait by Egypt's interim president Adly Mansour. On the occasion of New Hijri Year, the cabinet congratulated His Highness the Amir, His Highness the Crown Prince and the Kuwaiti people on this Islamic occasion. The cabinet finally discussed recent political reports on both Arab and international arenas.