Now street protests reach Kuwait

Protesters gathered outside Kuwait’s main government building today to demand sweeping changes on how the country is run as another Gulf state joined the surge for reforms around the Arab world.

Security forces stood by as hundreds of demonstrators moved into an area outside a building holding key offices including Kuwait’s emir and the prime minister, who is accused by pro-reform groups of stifling political freedoms and dissent.

The initial crowd was limited, but protest organisers had to switch venues after police blockaded the central Safat Square in Kuwait City.

Although the protests mark the first in Kuwait since the Arab uprisings, the oil-rich Gulf nation is no stranger to political showdowns.

Kuwait has the region’s most powerful parliament and opposition MPs have waged open battles against the ruling system, including nearly bringing down the prime minister with no-confidence votes.

One of the protest slogans: “Leave! We Deserve Better!” Others waved banners saying “New country with a new prime minister.”

The planned rallies were timed to dovetail with the return of parliament from a nearly month-long recess.

One of the first acts was the swearing-in of the new interior minister, whose predecessor was dismissed in January following an uproar when a suspect accused of illegal alcohol sales was beaten to death in police custody.

But the main target of Kuwait’s opposition remains the prime minister, Sheik Nasser Al Mohammed Al Sabah, a nephew of Kuwait’s emir.

Protesters also seek to break the exclusive grip on power by the ruling family, which holds all major government posts and controls the oil riches in the world’s fourth-largest producer.

The Gulf is already gripped by unprecedented political unrest.

Bahrain’s monarchy has been hit by more than three weeks of protests and clashes. Smaller protests have flared in Oman and Saudi Arabia.

Last month, police in Kuwait used tear gas to disperse protests by descendants of desert nomads demanding Kuwait citizenship and the generous state benefits that come with it.