A Kuwaiti minister tendered his resignation on Tuesday after a court sentenced him to jail for wrongly approving a contract that inflicted heavy losses on the state, the government said. A statement issued by the cabinet following its weekly meeting said that Ahmad al-Jassar, the minister for electricity, water and public works, had submitted his resignation to the prime minister. It gave no reason for the move by Jassar, who was appointed to the post only six months ago.
But the country's lower court on Monday sentenced Jassar, four senior officials and 11 former officials to two years in jail each and asked them to pay $3,300 in order to have the terms suspended. The court also fined them each $66,000. The ruling is not final. Jassar and the other convicts were members of a technical commission set up by the electricity and water ministry in 2007 to study contracts aimed at boosting the oil-rich Gulf state's power generation. According to the court verdict, "the commission erroneously approved" a $215 million contract with a company not qualified for the job and as a result "the project was delayed and caused heavy damage to public funds".
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