Kuwait has banned the television show of a prominent Sunni Muslim cleric, accused of instigating hatred with speeches and comments on social media calling for arming rebels fighting the army of Syrian President Bashar Al-Assad.

 

Information Minister Sheikh Salman Al-Humoud Al-Sabah said authorities would investigate how a show involving Shafi Al-Ajmi was allowed to be broadcast on state television. It was cancelled after the first episode aired on Monday.

 

"The Ministry of Information does not approve of airing episodes for any individual who instigates hatred and promotes such rhetoric," Sheikh Salman told local media. His remarks were confirmed to Reuters by his office on Wednesday.

 

Al-Ajmi has nearly a quarter of a million followers on Twitter, and his comments, aired widely on YouTube, are regularly laced with sectarian references.

 

Kuwait's parliament condemned a speech he made in June, outside the Lebanese Embassy, for inciting extremism and stoking sectarian tensions. - Reuters