Kuwait mosque attack:

Hundreds of Sunnis and Shia hold unity prayers

Rasa - 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 a so-called Islamic State staged the country’s deadliest militant attack.

News ID: 2881

Date: 05 July 2015 - 01:46

RNA - The takfiri 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 ISIS 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?”

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.

“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.

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 Persian Gulf Arab country was at war with Islamist militants and would strike out at cells still believed to be on its soil.

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