"We believe our coverage is objective. ... But the Kuwaitis back the war on Iraq 100 percent and they believe that anyone who takes a different stand is against them," a senior official of Al-Arabiya told AFP, requesting anonymity.

The official confirmed that Kuwaiti financiers had not pumped money into Al-Arabiya, a 24-hour television launched in February, but said this was because discussions with Kuwaiti and other businessmen had been put on hold after the United States and Britain launched their military campaign against Iraq March 20.

His comments followed press reports earlier Tuesday that Kuwaiti Information Minister Sheikh Ahmad Fahd al-Sabah had warned that he might ban Al-Arabiya from operating in Kuwait due to its "biased" coverage against the emirate.

The warning was on the front page of the Saudi-owned pan-Arab daily Al-Hayat, which is edited in London.

Kuwaiti MPs, speaking to AFP on condition of anonymity, confirmed that the Kuwaiti minister had made the remarks during a closed session of the emirate's parliament on Monday.

They also said that State Minister for Foreign Affairs Sheikh Mohammad Sabah al-Sabah had told the legislature that a feasibility study had led to the shelving of a plan to contribute to Al-Arabiya's capital to the tune of 30 percent via the Kuwait Investment Authority (KIA), the government's investment arm.

"But the MPs understood that it was more of a political decision than one related to the station's economic viability," one MP said.

The Al-Arabiya official who spoke to AFP said the station had been in talks with Kuwaiti, Bahraini and Emirati businessmen about the possibility of a partnership, but it had put the discussions on hold when war broke out "because this is not the right time" to conduct such negotiations and also because of concern any joint venture might affect its editorial independence in covering the conflict.

At the moment, Al-Arabiya is solely financed by the owners of its sister television station, MBC, he said.

MBC is owned by Sheikh Walid al-Ibrahim, an in-law of Saudi Arabia's King Fahd.

The Al-Arabiya official said his organization had learned of the Kuwaiti anger "only through the press" and had not been approached by Kuwaiti officials on the matter.

"I am not aware that it could reach the point that our office in Kuwait will be closed, and I hope it does not come to that," he said.

Kuwait closed down the office of the Qatar-based Al-Jazeera satellite channel last November, also on grounds that it is "biased."

Kuwait, which was occupied by Iraq for seven months until it was liberated by a US-led coalition in February 1991, hosts the US and British troops who have thrust into southern Iraq on their way to Baghdad with the stated objective of toppling Iraqi President Saddam Hussein.

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