ABU DHABI ø Kuwait, besieged by both Shi'ite and Sunni pressure, has been cautious in dealing with the Islamic opposition.

The sheikdom has refrained from jailing a leading Sunni cleric who has opposed the sheikdom's support for the U.S.-led war in Iraq. The cleric was said to have also encouraged young Kuwaitis to fight the U.S. military in the Gulf.

In June, a Kuwaiti criminal court gave Hamed Al Ali a two-year suspended sentence. Al Ali was convicted of insulting Kuwait Emir Sabah Al Sabah and questioning the emir's authority to support the United States.

The court warned that Al Ali would serve the two years if he commited another offense until 2007. Al Ali was also ordered to pay 1,000 dinars, or $3,380, as a guarantee that will not be refunded if he commited any additional violation.

Al Ali has headed the Al Qaida-inspired Salafist Movement, regarded as a leading Islamic opposition group. Kuwaitis have complained that Al Ali, a professor, urged young Kuwaitis to manufacture bombs against the U.S. military presence in Kuwait.

But the court did not cite this accusation against Al Ali. The cleric had issued a religious ruling that warned that any country that helped a non-Muslim state against an Islamic country was violating the Muslim religion.

Kuwait has also been careful in handling the Shi'ite opposition. In May, Kuwait protested what officials said was Iran's attempt to organize the Shi'ite community, which comprises nearly half of the sheikdom's population.