Sunnis, Shias hold unity prayers in Kuwait

Joint prayers were held in Bahrain, Kuwait a week after Kuwait Shia mosque bombing

KUWAIT: Hundreds of Shia and Sunni Muslims prayed for national unity at Kuwait's grand mosque on Friday, vowing to block any attempt to stir sectarian division a week after an Islamic State staged the country's deadliest militant attack.

The Sunni group claimed responsibility for a June 26 suicide bombing on a Shi'ite mosque in Kuwait City that killed 27 and wounded more than 200.

A Shia member of parliament Adnan Abdulsamad told Reuters Islamic State were "fools" for thinking they could destabilise Kuwait and the attack had only made Kuwaitis more determined to promote solidarity.

"This prayer is a prayer of unity," he said. "This heinous crime only brings us further strength and tolerance. Thank God it made our enemies fools. Were they under the illusion that with this crime they would create discord?"

Read: IS suicide bomber kills 27 in Kuwait mosque

Although a strategic minnow, Kuwait is an oil power and a supporter of US-backed efforts to fight Islamic State, providing intelligence, funding and the use of airfields for a Western-Arab coalition fighting the hardline militants.

Relations have traditionally been good between the 70 per cent of Kuwait's 1.4 million citizens who are Sunni and the Shias who make up 30 per cent, but regional rivalry between Sunni Saudi Arabia and Shia Iran has caused some strains.

"Keep our nation safe and protect us from sedition," said Sunni imam Waleed al Ali, reciting a prayer for a congregation that included the emir Sheikh Sabah al Ahmed al Sabah.



Kuwaiti security forces gather outside the Shia Al-Imam al-Sadeq mosque after it was targeted by a suicide bombing during Friday prayers on June 26, 2015, in Kuwait City. PHOTO: AFP

Kuwait has detained 90 people in connection with the bombing, closed a charity for alleged militant ties in raising funds for Syrians and its parliament passed a law making it mandatory that authorities keep a record of all residents' DNA.

Kuwait's interior minister said on Tuesday the Gulf Arab country was at war with Islamist militants and would strike out at cells still believed to be on its soil.

The attack was carried out by a Fahd Suliman Abdul Muhsen al Qabaa, a man in his early 20s from Saudi Arabia, showed Islamic State making good on a threat to step up violence in the holy fasting month of Ramazan.

Joint Friday prayers held in Bahrain to show unity

Dozens of Shias and Sunnis prayed side by side Friday in a mosque near the capital of Bahrain.

Residents said tight security was in place for the special session of weekly prayers in a mosque at Diraz.



Sunni and Shias conduct joint Friday prayers to show solidarity and co-existence between the two sects of Islam at Al A'ali Grand Mosque in Al A'ali south of Manama, July 3, 2015. PHOTO: REUTERS

The interior ministry ordered a strong police presence following deadly bombings at Shia mosques in Saudi Arabia and Kuwait carried out by extremists over the past two months.

The joint prayers were a show of Bahraini “unity in the face of those plotting against the Arab and Islamic world”, said Justice and Islamic Affairs Minister Sheikh Khaled bin Ali Al Khalifa.



A police officer frisks a man arriving for Friday prayers at the Al A'ali Grand Mosque in Al A'ali south of Manama, July 3, 2015. PHOTO: REUTERS

Bahraini authorities, backed by volunteers, have stepped up checks on those entering mosques for Friday prayers in the wake of the attacks elsewhere in the Gulf.