Joint Shia-Sunni ceremony after mosque bombing in Kuwait

Kuwait deployed unprecedented security measures around Shia mosques for Friday prayers following a recent deadly bombing, as the emir attended a rare Shia-Sunni joint ceremony in a show of unity.

Shia mosques in Kuwait City were completely cordoned off, and roads leading to them were closed to traffic, as security men and volunteers stood guard. A Saudi suicide bomber from the Islamic State group blew himself up in a Shia mosque the previous week, killing 26 people and wounding 227 others in the worst bombing in Kuwait's history. Shias make up a round a third of the oil-rich Gulf state's 1.3 million native citizens.

Thousands of Shia and Sunni worshippers held a rare joint prayer at the Grand Mosque, Kuwait's largest place of worship for Sunnis. The emir, Sheikh Sabah al-Ahmad al-Sabah, attended the noon prayers along with the crown prince, parliament speaker and several cabinet ministers and lawmakers.

Prayer leader Sheikh Waleed al-Ali, a Sunni, called for national unity and urged Muslims to abandon extremist ideology. "Extremism has led to this bloodshed," he said in his sermon. Both Sunni and Shia worshippers stood in rows beside each other, each praying according to their tradition. "Our message today is that Kuwait is united and nothing will ever succeed to divide us," Abdullah Nuri, a Shia engineer, told AFP. "The highly positive reactions by our Sunni brothers after the blast made us very satisfied."

Shia cleric Abdullah al-Nejada said: "this is a proof that Sunnis and Shias are the same and that they (terrorists) will not succeed in dividing this country."

Kuwait, declaring itself in a state of war against "terrorism", has placed security forces and the police on high alert. A large number of suspects have been arrested, and five sent to the public prosecution. "This is a clear message to terrorists that you will not succeed in your plot. This is the Kuwaiti response to you," MP Khalil Abul told AFP as he left the mosque.

On Wednesday, parliament approved $400 million (€360 million) in emergency funding for the interior ministry. IS's Saudi affiliate, the Najd Province, claimed the bombing and identified the assailant as Abu Suleiman al-Muwahhid. Kuwaiti authorities have named him as Fahd Suleiman Abdulmohsen al-Qabaa and said he was a Saudi born in 1992. Gulf interior ministers agreed at the end of a meeting in Kuwait early Friday to boost cooperation to fight "terrorism".    (AFP)

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