ANSAmed

(ANSAmed) - KUWAIT CITY, MAY 29 - Kuwait unveiled on Wednesday a new 16-member cabinet formed after general elections in which Islamists made a strong showing, Middle East online reports. Emir Sheikh Sabah al-Ahmad al-Sabah approved the lineup presented by Prime Minister Sheikh Nasser Mohammad al-Ahmad al-Sabah following the May 17 early polls, and which includes a Shiite activist briefly detained in March over a controversial rally. Mohammad al-Olaim, who was minister of electricity and water and acting oil minister in the previous cabinet, was appointed to lead the two ministries in OPEC's fourth-largest producer. The cabinet, which was later sworn in by the emir, includes seven new faces and two women compared to one in the previous government, which was also headed by Sheikh Nasser. Nuriya al-Sebih was retained as education minister while Mudhi al-Humoud, a liberal academic and university professor, was appointed for the first time as state minister for housing and administrative development. Kuwaiti women won their political rights in May 2005. Fifty-four women contested legislative elections in 2006 and earlier this month but none won a seat in the 50-member parliament. Finance Minister Mustafa al-Shamali was retained in his post while Ahmad Baqer, a former Islamist MP, was appointed minister of trade and industry. Besides the prime minister, a nephew of the emir, four ministers are from the Al-Sabah ruling family who continue to hold the key posts of interior, defence, foreign affairs and information. Soon after forming the cabinet, Sheikh Nasser vowed to cooperate with the new parliament, which is controlled by Islamists and tribal conservatives. The cabinet includes two members of the Shiite minority: Shamali and newcomer Fadhel Safar, who was appointed minister of public works and municipalities. Minister of Justice and Islamic Affairs Hussein al-Huraiti is the only elected MP in the cabinet. (ANSAmed).