Kuwait Interior Minister Sheikh Jaber al-Khaled al-Sabah resigned ahead of planned protests calling for his ouster amid an investigation that a Kuwaiti citizen was tortured to death in police custody, a newspaper report said Monday.
According to the Kuwait Times, lawmakers welcomed the acceptance of the his resignation on Sunday and called for fundamental reforms in the ministry. But the opposition continued its calls for the entire cabinet to be dissolved, DPA reported.
Earlier this month, Sheikh Jaber submitted his resignation to the Emir of Kuwait, Sheikh Sabah al-Ahmad al-Sabah, but the cabinet insisted he stay on.
The Interior Minister said he would stay on only if he was given "full powers" to "clean the ministry" and take legal action against those behind the death of Mohammad Ghazzai Hulayel al-Mutairi.
His surprise resignation comes amid calls by a youth group called the Fifth Fence, who had planned to protest outside parliament on Tuesday against "undemocratic practices", according to media reports.
Sheikh Ahmad al-Homoud al-Jaber al-Sabah, who was previously Interior Minister for 18 months from 1991 to 1992, has been appointed to head the ministry once again.
Kuwaiti media reported that a parliamentary committee formed to probe the death of al-Mutairi found that he died after six days of torture outside and inside a police station.
The public prosecution ordered 16 policemen, including three officers, be detained while the investigation continues.
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