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Sunday, October 3, 2010

Kuwait switches to Friday-Saturday weekend

KUWAIT CITY--Kuwait on Sunday decided to switch its weekend to Friday-Saturday from Thursday-Friday, starting on September 1, State Minister Faisal al-Hajji told the official KUNA news agency.

Kuwait will follow the example of Gulf partners the United Arab Emirates, Bahrain and Qatar which all made the same switch last year in a measure designed to bring them closer to the working week in the West.

The Kuwaiti decision, which applies to government offices, was taken during the weekly meeting of the cabinet in the oil-rich Gulf emirate on the recommendation of the Civil Service Commission.

Only oil powerhouse Saudi Arabia and Oman still apply the Thursday-Friday Muslim weekend in the six-nation alliance of the Gulf Cooperation Council.

The private sector in Kuwait is not bound to follow the government, but banks and most of the oil sector already apply a Friday-Saturday weekend to be more in line with international markets, which close Saturday-Sunday. - Agence France-Presse/inquirer.net, May 27, 2007

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