This Day in Kuwait History

Kuwait City, July 19 (KUNA) -- July 19:

1954 - Kuwaiti Emir Sheikh Abdullah Al-Salim Al-Sabah issued a decree establishing a committee to study a unified internal reform policy and organize government departments. The committee, named the Supreme Executive Committee, aimed to organize government departments and safeguard citizens' interests, and was directly accountable to the Emir of the country.

1990 - Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Foreign Affairs Sheikh Sabah Al-Ahmad Al-Jaber Al-Sabah sent a message to the Arab League, responding to Iraq's allegations against Kuwait and calling for arbitration in the border dispute and other claims.

1992 - The Ministry of Interior announced the arrest of a sabotage network consisting of five individuals, most of them Iraqis, who carried out several sabotage crimes in the country.

1998 - The first execution of its kind was carried out in Kuwait against two individuals holding Iranian citizenship, convicted of smuggling and trafficking in drugs. This followed amendments to certain provisions of Law No. (13) of 1995 on the Combating of Narcotics, which increased the penalty for smuggling, importing, and trafficking in drugs to death, in accordance with Article (31). The Court of Cassation had approved this sentence on May 18, 1998.

2000 - Poet Sulaiman Saleh Al-Huwaidi died at the age of 73. He was one of the prominent pioneers of folk poetry and one of the founders of the Diwan of Nabati poets.

2003 - Kuwaiti Emir Sheikh Jaber Al-Ahmad Al-Jaber Al-Sabah inaugurated the first session of the tenth legislative term of the National Assembly. The Assembly elected MP Jassem Al-Kharafi as Speaker and chose MP Mishaan Al-Anjari as Deputy Speaker.

2012 - An emiri decree was issued forming the 31st government, headed by Sheikh Jaber Al-Mubarak Al-Hamad Al-Sabah, comprising 13 ministers.

2012 - The Kuwait national team was crowned champion of the 22nd Gulf Water Sports Championship, which concluded in Kuwait.

2016 - Kuwait signed a memorandum of understanding with the European External Action Service in the Belgian capital, Brussels, to enhance cooperation in several fields, including energy and investment, and to strengthen the European Union's aid to African countries. (End) M.B.R. / N.S.N.