Kuwait shelves lawsuit against Israel over flotilla - because it fears losing!

From Arab Times Online:

KUWAIT CITY: The Ministry of Justice intends to shelve the case which has been filed by MP Dr Waleed Al-Tabtabaei and others against the Israeli government for humiliating and assaulting them while they were aboard the Turkish flotilla which was carrying humanitarian assistance to the people of the Gaza Strip in Palestine, reports Al-Dar daily.

It has been reported the ministry was preparing to file a lawsuit in international courts but was advised by lawyers not to go ahead with the suit because Israel could win the case and Kuwait would end up paying billions of dollars in compensation because the ship had violated international law by entering the Israeli territorial waters without permission.

The legal reasoning is probably garbled for the article; I imagine either the problem is that the blockade would be declared legal or that they have to consider Gaza to be Israeli territory if they are calling it "occupied." I also have no idea of where the lawsuit would have been filed.

There might also be an element of the Arab honor/shame society here. Even if they are confident in their case, they are concerned at the huge embarrassment that they would suffer if they lost and had to pay Israel. Even a small chance of that eventuality is enough to scare off any potential legal action.

Either way, this is very funny.