Kuwaiti government requests special 6.2 billion dinar budget for weapons

Minister of state for cabinet affairs confirmed that government sent a request for a special budget

DUBAI: The Kuwaiti government asked parliament to approve a supplementary budget of 6.2 billion dinars ($20.4 billion) to fund weapons purchases for the military over 10 years, al Rai newspaper reported on Tuesday.

Sheikh Mohammad Abdullah Al Sabah, minister of state for cabinet affairs, confirmed on the sidelines of a conference that the government sent a request for a special budget, but declined to specify the amount requested.



Al Rai said the government asked that the money be drawn from the country's general reserves.

Last month, a lower court in Kuwait sentenced five men to 10 years in jail each for raising funds for the Islamic State group.

Three of those convicted were Kuwaiti citizens, according to the court ruling.

The court ordered that the remaining two, who were foreigners, be deported after serving the jail term. Their nationalities were not immediately clear.



It also acquitted two others.

The men were charged with raising about 400,000 Kuwaiti dinars ($1.3 million) and transferring the funds to IS, which has seized control of large parts of Syria and Iraq and carried out attacks throughout the Middle East.