Kuwait premier names first woman minister

KUWAIT - Kuwait has appointed its first female cabinet member by naming a veteran women's rights activist as planning minister, state news agency Kuna said.

It said prime minister Sheikh Sabah al-Ahmad al-Sabah "announced the appointment of Massouma Mubarak as planning minister and minister of state for administrative development affairs".

Kuwait is the third country in the conservative Gulf Arab region to have a woman cabinet member. Earlier this month, Kuwait appointed two women to its municipal council for the first time, after it granted women suffrage last month.

- REUTERS