Kuwait summons Egypt's envoy over 'offensive statement'

KUWAIT CITY

Kuwait on Friday summoned the Egyptian ambassador over what it called an "offensive statement" by an Egyptian official.

Kuwaiti Deputy Foreign Minister Khaled Al-Jarallah expressed to Ambassador Tariq Al-Kuni “the country’s condemnation, resentment and rejection of such offensive remarks by Egypt’s assistant manpower minister," according to a Foreign Ministry statement.

The statement said that the official’s offensive "targeted Kuwait and its symbols.”

Al-Jarallah also demanded that Egyptian authorities take legal action against the official.

On Thursday, Egypt’s Manpower Ministry said it received a report of a Kuwaiti citizen assaulting a female Egyptian doctor.

The report said that the Kuwaiti offender locked the doctor in a room with no cameras and started beating her, leaving her bruised and injured.

Some half a million Egyptians work in Kuwait, the largest group of foreign nationals working in the country.

* Ahmed Asmar contributed to this report from Ankara