AFP - Hundreds of young Kuwaitis demonstrated for reform in the oil-rich Gulf emirate on Tuesday and the replacement of the current prime minister.
Around 1,000 people gathered in a square near government offices on the seafront amid tight security with a helicopter hovering overhead.
The venue for the rally had been changed at the last minute after authorities cordoned off Safat Square in the centre of the capital Kuwait City.
The demonstrators carried banners calling for the resignation of Prime Minister Sheikh Nasser Mohammad al-Ahmad al-Sabah, a nephew of the emir who has had repeated run-ins with parliament since he took office in 2006.
"Mr. Prime Minister, you have done your job, but Kuwait deserves better. Please leave," shouted female activist Mariam al-Ajmi.
Five of the six governments Sheikh Nasser has formed as premier have been forced to resign and parliament has been dissolved three times.
"A prime minister who formed six governments without achievements must leave ... We want a new government, a new premier and a new strategy," said youth activist Hamad al-Alyan.
Another activist, Bader al-Enezi charged that "corruption has become widespread under Sheikh Nasser's governments."
Kuwait is one of the richest countries in the Middle East thanks to its huge oil resources, with surpluses topping $300 billion
But development projects have been stymied by disputes between the government and parliament.
Addressing the gathering, veteran politician Ahmad al-Khateeb said Kuwait was witnessing the worst period in its 250-year history and warned members of the ruling family not to play with the nation's future.
"We will not allow members of the ruling family to meddle with Kuwait's future for personal ambitions... They are damaging Kuwait," said Khateeb, one of the architect's of the country's 1962 constitution.
The demonstration in Kuwait comes amid a wave of protests across the Arab world that has seen the veteran rulers of Egypt and Tunisia swept from power and threatened the regimes of Bahrain, Libya and Yemen.
The rally was organised by three youth groups called the Fifth Fence, Kafi (Enough) and Nureed (We Want).
Over the past two weeks, liberal, Islamist and nationalist opposition groups have heaped pressure on Sheikh Nasser to resign.
They have also called for reform of Kuwait's political system to make it a Western-style multi-party democracy, with political parties legalised and a prime minister drawn from outside the ruling family.
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