January 10, 2008	Thursday	Zilhaj 30, 1428

KUWAIT CITY, Jan 9: Kuwait’s parliament has decided to hold a no-confidence motion against its only woman minister after questioning her for 10 hours at the request of an Islamist lawmaker and 10 others.

Education minister Nouriya Al Sabih has been under fire from the start of her tenure after defying Islamist MPs calls to wear a scarf when she sworn in April last year.

Islamist MP, Saad Al Sharie, accused Nouriya Al Sabih of failing education standards and irregularities at her ministry. Pressure has been mounting on Sebih since her ministry tried to deny an incident in which three school boys were sexually assaulted by Asian labourers.

The incident was reported by a newspaper. The vote on the motion, presented by a mix of Islamist and tribal MPs, will take place in about two weeks. It requires 25 votes to pass in the 50-member Parliament, and if adopted would mean the minister’s automatic dismissal.