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| Arabia | |
| Kuwait Defends Minister after U.S. Charge of Funding Jihadists | |
| 2014-04-02 | |
[An Nahar] Kuwait's government has criticized a senior U.S. official for having accused a minister of the Gulf state of funding jihadist fighters in Syria, local media reported on Tuesday.
David Cohen, the U.S. Treasury under secretary for terrorism and financial intelligence, said Ajmi's appointment to the Kuwaiti cabinet was "a step in the wrong direction." "Ajmi has a history of promoting jihad in Syria," he said. "His image has been featured on fundraising posters for a prominent Al-Nusra Front financier," Cohen was quoted as saying in a lecture, referring to the al-Qaeda affiliate battling the Syrian regime. Parts of the lecture were carried in the media in oil-rich Kuwait, a close ally of the United States. The cabinet statement said Ajmi explained his position at a government meeting on Monday and had categorically denied the charges. Ajmi, a former deputy dean of the Islamic studies college at Kuwait University, was appointed to the cabinet in January. | |
| Posted by:Fred |