The Kuwaiti prime minister on Monday reshuffled his five-month old cabinet replacing seven members, including the oil and finance ministers, and raising the number of Islamists to four.

The Kuwaiti prime minister on Monday reshuffled his five-month old cabinet replacing seven members, including the oil and finance ministers, and raising the number of Islamists to four.

The move came two weeks after all the ministers submitted their resignations to Prime Minister Sheikh Jaber Mubarak Al-Sabah after several cabinet members, including the premier himself, were quizzed by MPs.

Emir Sheikh Sabah al-Ahmad Al-Sabah, who is the head of the oil-rich Gulf state, on Monday accepted the resignation of seven of the 15 ministers and decreed the appointment of new faces.

The number of Islamist ministers went up from two to four in the current cabinet. Besides the oil portfolio, Islamists head the ministries of Islamic affairs and justice, communications and health.

The reshuffle came after the constitutional court last month rejected two petitions to nullify July parliamentary polls and dissolve the five-month old assembly.

The ruling, which cannot be challenged, means that the current parliament may become the first since 2003 to complete a full four-year term.

Since early 2006, the oil-rich Gulf state has been in almost continuous political crisis, with a dozen cabinets quitting and parliament dissolved six times.