Kuwaiti minister denies blasting US, Western economic systems-he previously stated it was due to the west disregarding “religious teachings”

KUWAIT, Oct 24, (Agencies): Kuwaiti Minister of Commerce and Industry Ahmad Baqer on Thursday dismissed local reports that he had criticized US and western economic systems. But, he said that he had only expressed his views on the reasons of the current global financial meltdown, just as did many world economists and western leaders. He told the Kuwait News Agency (KUNA) that he had called for reconsidering the absolute capitalist system, which is not subject to restrictions and control. He noted that his remarks at a recent symposium were previously voiced by western economists and leaders, who called for state control over the new capitalist system. The Kuwaiti minister also denied that he might stigmatize dealers in stocks as “gamblers”.

Earlier, Baqer and several Salafi scholars were said to have attributed the global financial crisis to the people’s outright disregard of religious teachings, according to Al-Anba. Baqer and a number of Salafi scholars reportedly made the statement at a seminar recently at the Revival of Islamic Heritage Society (RIHS) headquarters in Qortuba, which was held under the slogan “The Current Economic Situation”.  Besides Baqer, other prominent participants in the seminar included Dr Khalid Al-Otaibi, MPs Khaled Sultan bin Essa and Dr Ali Al-Omair, Executive Director of Al-Imtiaz Investment Company Ali Al-Zubaed, Director of Finance at Kuwait Foundation for Advancement of Science (KFAS) Yousef Al-Mejlaham, Dr Adel Al-Damkhi, Dr Fahad Al-Khanna, Dr Mohammad Al-Kandari, Eng Tareq Al-Eissa and Mohammed Al-Osaimi, who directed the affairs of the day.