JAFFA, Israel – The power cable of Kuwait’s Patriot air defense missile system has been stolen, Al Rai newspaper reported on Tuesday.
The stolen cable is the main, but not only, source of electric power to the device.
“Though it shouldn’t prevent us from beefing up security,” an official said after authorities launched an inquiry and repair works.
The paper said that the theft was made possible by a security lacuna that derived from inter-ministerial bickering over responsibilities. The Ministry of Electricity has urged other ministries to arrange security measures for their facilities, but wasn’t met with cooperation.
Until the differences are bridged, the Ministry of Electricity intends to install CCTV and replace the wooden electricity poles with metal ones that are much more difficult to remove.
Meanwhile, the Kuwaiti Ministry of Trade has launched an investigation into the disappearance of several golden seals that are used to authenticate golden jewelry.
The Ministry launched an appeal to the public, warning them to refrain from buying unusually cheap gold that might be fraudulently certified.
In addition, some $2 million worth of platinum, a sizable quantity, was also stolen from the Ministry.