June 27, Reuters
At a traditional evening meeting known as a "diwaniya", Kuwaiti men drop banknotes into a box, opening a campaign to arm up to 12,000 anti-government fighters in Syria.
They are Sunni Muslim and mainly Islamist like many Syrian rebels who have been trying for two years to overthrow President Bashar al-Assad.
In just four hours the campaign collected 80,000 dinars ($282,500). The box moves to a new house each day for a week. Sawagh estimates this type of campaign in Kuwait, one of the world's richest countries per capita, raised several million dollars during the last Ramadan religious holiday.
Syria is blocked from international bank transfers from Kuwait because of sanctions, so former MP Sawagh visited the Syrian town of Aleppo last month with cash in his luggage for rebel fighters. He did not say how much he took.
"Our only rule is to collect money and to deliver this money to our brothers which are helping the Syrian people," said Sawagh, a member of a local group linked to the Muslim Brotherhood which is in power in Egypt and is influential in other Arab states.
Sawagh and others in his campaign also travel to Turkey and Jordan to hand over money to intermediaries.
"They have absolute freedom to spend this money. If they can recruit mujahideen for defending themselves and their sanctity with this money, then this is their choice," he said, referring to fighters who engage in jihad or holy war.
The calls to holy war by several influential clerics in the region only encouraged more donations, Kuwaitis said.
"Women have also been donating their gold," said Bader al-Dahoum, a former Islamist opposition MP.
"After the fatwas (edicts), people are giving more."
The men at the diwaniya said one large Kuwaiti family planned to equip 28 mujahideen in Syria, estimating the cost at 700 dinars per fighter. Smaller families sponsor two or three, while a member of one of Kuwait's powerful merchant families donated 250,000 dinars.
Insight: Kuwaitis campaign privately to arm Syrian rebels | Reuters
http://www.reuters.com/article/2013/06/ ... =worldNews
Mashallah seems like the whole arab world from kuwait, qatar, saudi, UAE all donating to mujahideen
? It must be really hard on you guys now that one of your gods, Dahir, has run from another one of your gods Godane. Have you performed takfir on him today you two kuffar?
