Kuwait’s emir, Sheikh Sabah al-Ahmad Al-Sabah, has refused to sign a bill passed by parliament stipulating the death penalty for major religious offences, sources in the assembly said Wednesday. The oil-rich Gulf state’s government has sent the bill back to parliament on Wednesday, sources said, indicating that it had been rejected by the emir. The emir has the power to refuse bills passed by the elected parliament, but the assembly can override the rejection by passing the bill again with a two-thirds majority of the house membership of 49 MPs and 16 cabinet ministers. The bill, passed by parliament last month, stipulates that Muslims who curse God, the Holy Quran, all prophets and the wives of Prophet Mohammed (PBUH) will be punished by death or life in jail.
