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Kuwait Arrests 2 Ahead of Shi'ite Commemoration


FILE - Kuwaiti security check Kuwaiti Shi'ite Muslims as they arrive to attend an Ashoura commemoration, which marks the 7th-century slaying of Imam Hussein, the grandson of Prophet Muhammad and one of Shi'ite Islam's most revered figures, in Kuwait City,
FILE - Kuwaiti security check Kuwaiti Shi'ite Muslims as they arrive to attend an Ashoura commemoration, which marks the 7th-century slaying of Imam Hussein, the grandson of Prophet Muhammad and one of Shi'ite Islam's most revered figures, in Kuwait City,

Authorities in Kuwait say two Iranians were arrested after being seen photographing Shi'ite congregation halls ahead of a major religious ceremony.

Kuwait's Interior Ministry issued a statement late Thursday saying the two men took "suspicious photos" of the halls, also known as husseiniyahs. It said the two men entered Kuwait separately in the past two months.

It wasn't immediately clear whether the men had lawyers.

Their arrests came ahead of next week's Shi'ite commemoration of Ashoura, which marks the death of Hussein, the grandson of the Prophet Muhammad, at the Battle of Karbala in present-day Iraq in the 7th century.

Kuwaiti police have promised increased security ahead of Ashoura.

An Islamic State-claimed suicide bombing in 2015 targeting a Shi'ite mosque in Kuwait City killed 27 people and wounded scores.

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