KUWAIT, (Reuters) – A crowd angry about a programme they deemed insulting to some members of Kuwait’s ruling family stormed a Kuwaiti private television station yesterday, ransacking its offices, station officials said.
“Some of them were armed with pistols and knives. They attacked the studio and damaged it and beat up the workers. About 10 were injured,” Mohammed Talal al-Saeed, executive manager of Scope TV, told Reuters.
Fajr al-Saeed, owner of the station, said she had received threats to her life after the talk show “Zain wa Shain” (“Good and Bad”) was aired on Saturday.
Kuwaiti newspapers have said the Information Ministry has accused Fajr al-Saeed of attempting to overthrow the government with Scope’s satirical comedy show “Sawtak Wasal” (“Your Voice Has Been Heard”).
Fajr al-Saeed said the presenter of Saturday’s talk show had appeared to accuse a member of the ruling family who is a senior Information Ministry official of being behind the accusation.
She said yesterday’s attackers had been looking for her, the station manager or the programme presenter, and added that the station had gone off the air after the attack.
A Reuters reporter saw broken windows and overturned desks at the station, which police had cordoned off. A witness, lawyer Saeed al-Yahya, said the mob had numbered at least 150 people.
