Kuwait: Videotape scandal

Kuwait is no stranger to political scandals but a recent one, over the emergence of a videotape in April allegedly showing senior government officials to be conspiring against the state, has led to a media blackout and crackdown. The scandal centres on a tape in the possession of former oil minister Sheikh Ahmed Al-Fahd Al-Sabah which allegedly shows two senior former politicians plotting a coup. Sheikh Ahmad told the Kuwait Times that the tape related to “local, parliamentary, [ruling] family, financial and regional issues”, and that he dealt with them “in accordance with my national duties”.