LONDON: Kuwaiti authorities have detained US-Kuwaiti journalist Ahmed Shihab-Eldin who has not been seen for six weeks, a media watchdog said, during a wider crackdown by Gulf nations on people for filming or posting footage during the Iran war.
Shihab-Eldin, a 41-year-old journalist who was visiting family in Kuwait, has not posted online or been seen in public since March 2, the New York-based Committee to Protect Journalists said on Monday.
CPJ said he had been charged with spreading false information, harming national security and misusing his mobile phone.
Kuwait enacted a law on March 15 including a provision carrying prison terms of up to 10 years for spreading false rumours related to military entities with the intent of undermining confidence in them.
Government spokespeople did not immediately respond to Reuters’ attempts to obtain comment on Shihab-Eldin’s case via email and telephone. Shihab-Eldin had posted before his detention on publicly available videos and images related to the war. The last posts on his Substack account include footage showing a US fighter jet crash near a US air base in Kuwait.
Shihab-Eldin describes himself as an independent journalist who has worked for various international media outlets including the New York Times, HBO, Vice, PBS, BBC and Al Jazeera. It was unclear if he was working, as well as seeing family, during his visit to Kuwait.
