KUWAIT: Kuwait
dismisses "slanderous" accusations lodged against it over terror
financing, Deputy Foreign Minister Khaled Al-Jarallah said yesterday. "I
am baffled how Kuwait has been included in a list of terrorism financing
countries," Jarallah told Al-Jazeera television, citing the state's
hosting of a trio of donor conferences in support of Syria as counterevidence.

His remarks came
as the Syrian Embassy in Kuwait categorically denied a report by Kuwaiti daily
Al-Seyassah on Sunday over listing a number of Kuwaiti personalities on the
terrorism financing list. The embassy said in a statement that "it
considers these allegations an attempt by some suspicious bodies which seem to
be unhappy with the development of bilateral ties between the two brotherly
countries".

On the status of
Kuwait's embassy in Syria, Jarallah said, "operations will only resume
with the Arab League's consent." He predicted a "thaw in
relations" between Syria and Arab Gulf states in the coming days as more
nations look to reopen their embassies in Damascus. Jarallah added the Syrian
Embassy in Kuwait has the leeway needed to look after the Syrian diaspora in
the country, which number around a quarter of a million people.

Arab states,
including some that once backed rebels against President Bashar Al-Assad, are
seeking to reconcile with him after decisive gains by his forces in the war,
aiming to expand their clout in Syria at the expense of non-Arab Turkey and
Iran. The United Arab Emirates re-opened its embassy in Damascus last Thursday
and Bahrain said the next day that its embassy there and the Syrian diplomatic
mission in Manama had been operating "without interruption".

Arab League's
permanent representatives are due to meet in Cairo on Jan 6. US-allied Gulf
Arab states were the main regional backers of armed groups opposed to Assad,
providing finance or weapons or both, acting largely as part of a program of
support for the armed opposition coordinated by Washington. Unlike its other
neighbors, Kuwait kept Syria's embassy in Kuwait open and opposed arming the
rebels, although private donors in Kuwait sent funds to anti-Assad forces.
Kuwait has led a humanitarian fundraising campaign for Syria through the United
Nations.

An Arab diplomat,
speaking on condition of anonymity, told Reuters last week he believed a
majority of members wanted Syria to be readmitted. Syria's membership of the
Arab League was suspended in 2011 in response to the government's violent
crackdown on "Arab Spring" protests. For Syria to be reinstated, the
Arab League must reach a consensus. - Agencies