KUWAIT CITY, Jan 30: MPs Hassan Jawhar, Fares Al-Otaibi, Shuaib Shaaban, Abdulkareem Al-Kandari, Marzouq Al-Hebeini, Meteb Ayed Al- Raathan, Osama Al-Zaid, Badr Nashmi, Hamad Al-Medlej, Abdullah Fehad, Khalid Al-Tamar and Fahd Al-Masoud have submitted a request to National Assembly Speaker Ahmed Al-Saadoun to assign the parliamentary Public Funds Protection Committee to investigate the Malaysian Sovereign Fund issue and its latest developments. In their request, the abovementioned lawmakers suggested assigning the chairman and members of the committee to move to the field and review the necessary documents, as well as the movement of bank accounts, notifications, and the administrative and legal procedures related to this file at the Central Bank of Kuwait, the Financial Investigation Unit, the Money Laundering Department at the Ministry of Interior or other entities in or outside the country, if necessary.

They said the committee should submit reports in this regard to the Assembly. They also pointed out the passage of several years since the Malaysian Sovereign Fund crime happened, the resulting serious damage to the reputation of the State of Kuwait at home and abroad, and to the failure of the concerned financial and security oversight agencies to carry out their responsibilities since the beginning of the incident of hundreds of millions of suspicious dollars entering and leaving local banks within a short period -- largest money laundering operations in modern history. In addition, the Educational Affairs Committee will meet with Minister of Education, Higher Education and Scientific Research Dr Adel Al-Adwani and the educational sector officials on Sunday to discuss the reasons for the deterioration of education.

By Saeed Mahmoud Saleh and Abdul Rahman Al- Shammari
Al-Seyassah/Arab Times Staff