Americans main target of terror cell; Thirty-five referred for prosecution

KUWAIT (Agencies): Kuwaiti security forces are hunting a number of key militant suspects after a recent spate of al-Qaeda-linked violence in the state, security sources said on Friday. Confessions of captured militants revealed they were planning suicide attacks against US forces in Kuwait as well as Kuwait’s state security forces, the sources said. Kuwaiti security killed five suspected al-Qaeda militants and captured three, including the group’s leader, on Monday in the fourth such gunbattle in the country last month.

State security officer Hamad Al-Samhan, one of three police, wounded in the clash, died in hospital on Friday, the sources said. Kuwait’s leaders had vowed to finish off the militants behind the violence, mostly Kuwaitis with links to jihadists in neighbouring Iraq and Saudi Arabia. The militants were being hunted based on information gathered from the interrogation of captured militants who include Amer Al-Enezi, the cell’s suspected spiritual leader who is believed to have al-Qaeda links, they said. The suspects being pursued include two senior militants - Kuwaitis Khaled Al-Dousari and Mohsen Al-Fadli - both sought for previous suspected involvement in extremist Islamist activity.

“The raids and searches continue,” one source told Reuters. “There are wanted people whose names are mentioned during the interrogations and they may have links to this network.” He said militant suicide bombers had been planning to target US convoys and other US citizens in the country. Amer Khlaif Al-Enezi confessed he had enough explosives to wire 10 cars and explode them minutes apart to confuse authorities, and the priority was for American targets, the pro-government Al-Anba daily quoted a security source as saying. An Interior Ministry official declined to comment on the report, saying all investigations were confidential.

Eight Muslim militants were killed and 14 were in custody - including Al-Enezi - after four shootouts with police in different parts of the country last month. Interior Minister Sheikh Nawaf Al-Ahmed Al-Sabah told legislators in a closed-door meeting Monday that two suspects remain at large. Three policemen were killed in the shootouts, the first time Kuwaiti blood was spilled by terror suspects. The militant group - including 24 Kuwaitis, Saudi Arabians, stateless Arabs and a Jordanian - planned to attack buildings where Americans live, a resort and state security buildings. They were caught before any plans were carried out. Large caches of weapons and chemicals that could be used to make bombs were found in their possession.

According to Al-Anba, the group trained on using weapons and making explosives in the Kuwaiti desert. Many of them, including Al-Enezi’s brother, Nasser, trained on wiring cars in Iraq. The brother was killed in a clash on Jan 30. The ringleader reportedly said the group’s ultimate aim was to set up an “Islamic emirate,” in Kuwait. This small country is a constitutional monarchy. Its politically strong Islamic movements have tried through parliament - but so far failed - to make Sharia, or Islamic law, the sole source of legislation.

Those groups have condemned the recent violence and offered to support authorities in the fight against extremism. Westernized liberals accuse them of spreading intolerance that has encouraged young Kuwaitis to take up arms alongside Muslim militants in Afghanistan, Bosnia, Chechnya and Iraq. Al-Enezi gave authorities the names of some 25 people who supported the group in return for money, many of whom are not extremist, the paper said. He claimed that the money came from a Saudi national named Sulaiman Al-Ghamidi. Authorities in Kuwait and Saudi Arabia have been closely cooperating on security matters. the kingdom is fighting its own battle against extremists who oppose the government and its ties with the United States.

Al-Enezi, a former mosque preacher, reportedly told investigators that his group supported Osama bin Laden in “expelling Americans from the (Arabian) peninsula.” Asked if he knew Sulaiman Abu Ghaith, the Kuwaiti-born spokesman of bin Laden’s al-Qaeda, Al-Enezi reportedly said he didn’t, but the man “knew about our activities and the only one who calls him is Abu Omar the Saudi.” Kuwait has been a major ally of Washington since the US-led 1991 Gulf War that liberated it from a seven-month Iraqi occupation. The country was the launchpad for the American invasion of Iraq that toppled dictator Saddam Hussein almost two years ago. It is home to more than 18,000 American troops and 13,000 civilians.

The Ministry of Interior Friday issued a statement confirming the passing away of Lieutenant Hamad Majed Al-Samhan due to injuries sustained during a security operation last Monday against terrorists in Mubarak Al-Kabeer area. The statement said the officer had sustained a direct hit in the head and was rushed to Al-Adan hospital along with two fellow officers also injured during the operation. Though Al-Samhan stayed immediately at the intensive care unit, he passed away and joined the state’s proud host of martyrs who died in the line of duty, the statement said.

The martyr’s funeral will take place Saturday, Feb 5, at 8:00 in the morning and the funeral procession would be led by First Deputy Prime Minister and Interior Minister Sheikh Nawaf Al-Ahmad Al-Jaber Al-Sabah. His Highness the Amir Sheikh Jaber Al-Ahmed Al-Jaber Al-Sabah sent on Friday a cable of condolences to the family of martyr Al-Samhan. In his cable HH the Amir expressed his sincere condolences for the passing away of their beloved son, who was shot by terrorists last Monday. He also hailed his sacrifice for his country, which will remain a living example of patriotism in the memories of those who love their country, praying to Almighty Allah to bestow mercy on his soul.

The machine-gun said to have been used by Nasser Khlaif Al-Enezi, the terrorist who was gunned down by the security forces during a raid on an apartment in Salmiya on Jan 15, 2005, was the same weapon said to have been used in the Maidan Hawalli attack on Jan 10 of the same month, in which a securityman was killed, reports Al-Watan daily quoting reliable Interior Ministry sources. Fingerprints lifted from the Hawalli site of the crime matched the fingerprints lifted from the Salmiya shootout with police thus giving credibility to reports the two attacks were carried by members of the same cell. Meanwhile, Al-Watan daily said investigations also revealed the terrorist cell in Kuwait is headed by Khaled Al-Dousari, the main financer of terrorist operations in Hawalli, Salmiya and Umm Al-Haiman. The mastermind is also responsible for moving the terrorists from one place to another.

The daily added two most dangerous terrorists -...Mohsen Al-Fadhli and Mohammed Al-Harbi - received training from a Saudi citizen, identified as Abu Ziyad. It is Abu Ziyad who asked Dousari to establish a terrorist cell in Kuwait, the daily adds. Investigations also revealed the Ministry of Interior has ordered all stationary vehicles off the road, particularly routes used by military convoys after it was learnt terrorist were planning to plant explosives in the trucks used to carry ice and then explode them as the military convoys approach. One of the suspects in police custody and identified only as Maqbool claimed he is the right hand man of Dousari. He also said the vehicle used to transport other suspects from place to place was registered in his name.

A security source added until now 35 persons have been referred to the Public Prosecution. A security source also quoted Amer as telling interrogators securitymen will not be able to arrest Mohsen Al-Fadhli alive because he always wears a belt around his waist laden with explosives.

Securitymen are also planning to bring in for investigation an unidentified chairman of a charity society. The man is believed to have given financial assistance to one of the terrorists who is in police custody. The daily quoted a security source as saying securitymen moved to Sabah Al-Salem when an unidentified person reported seeing Dousari driving in the area. Later another person called the Operations Department of the Ministry of Interior saying Dousari was seen in Khaitan and again in Jabriya. However, the fugitive still remains at large.

Meanwhile, the daily quoted other security sources as saying the terrorists smuggled the weapons into the country from Iraq via Saudi Arabia. It has been reported when the Kuwaiti terrorists asked for help from their Saudi counterparts to move to Iraq to fight a holy war, they were apparently told to fight jihad in their own country because according to these men Americans were stationed in Kuwait also. It has also been reported when efforts are continuing to arrest Dousari and Fadhli, it has come to light the head of the Peninsula Lions Amer Khlaif Al-Enezi was quoted as saying Dousari had provided a list of officers in the Interior Ministry who should be killed.

Amer added Al-Dousari was given these names by members of the National Assembly because these officers were allegedly torturing suspects in their custody. It has been reported the MPs gave the names to Dousari because Dousari had said the cell only wanted to file cases against these officers. Assistant Undersecretary for Mosques Affairs at the Ministry of Awqaf and Islamic Affairs Abdullah Shihab has shed new light on the interrogations with ‘terrorist’ Amer Khlaif Al-Enezi, reports Al-Anba daily. The official said Amer, a mosque preacher during one of his sermons titled Fallujah, called on the people of Kuwait to support the people of Fallujah and criticized the US attacks against this city.

When the ministry reprimanded him on four occasions for preaching his ideology, Amer always said he was against terrorism and extremism. Shihab added Amer was then transferred to the Religious Positions Committee for further investigations to learn more about his ideology and when Shihab himself met Amer on two occasions he maintained he was against terrorism and rejected extremist ideologies before submitting his resignation. Shihab said the ministry has been monitoring all sermons given by Amer after the ‘Fallujah’ and they always appeared normal. “It is surprising Amer always spoke ill of terrorists and terrorism, but surprisingly he himself indulged in these activities,” Shihab added.

Sources said Amer resigned his post at the Ministry of Awqaf and Islamic Affairs in June and his last salary was transferred to the bank the same month. Sources added the ‘terrorist’ resigned because he was not happy the way he was interrogated after his sermon ‘Fallujah.’ Speaking about action taken against the former secretary-general of the Salafist movement Hamid Al-Ali, Al-Shihab said Ali was a volunteer in the ministry and had earlier been suspended from work for posting radical ideas on the Internet. Later he was convicted of promoting fundamentalist ideas and terminated from work. Since then the ministry has been keeping a watch on preachers to ascertain they do not go astray from their stated principles.

Speaking about imams, Shihab said, the Ministry has so far terminated the services of 12 imams for not complying with rules and regulations set by the ministry. Shihab assured the Ministry of Interior and the Ministry of Awqaf and Islamic Affairs work in coordination with each other. He added the imams have been asked to report to the Ministry of Interior about any suspicious elements. He said both ministries are part of the same government working in the interest of the nation and are against all forms of terrorism and extremism. Shihab added the Awqaf ministry has a program to educate imams. He pointed out the imams must keep themselves updated with the latest political developments in the country and the training program is meant to keep the imams updated from this angle.

Two Kuwaiti soldiers who were arrested by the Defence Ministry for allegedly plotting to attack allied military forces during a military exercise, were referred to the Public Prosecution on Wednesday, reports Al-Anba daily quoting judicial sources. The two army men - a major and a sergeant - are facing assault charges against coalition troops led by the Americans. The charges also include intent to blow up an unidentified army base in Kuwait. The Deputy Premier and Minister of Defence had earlier announced to the press that two military men had been detained for interrogation after their plot to undermine stability in the country had been uncovered. The daily quoting a reliable source said, five men had been detained, but three of them who were found innocent had since been released.

Kuwaiti security forces take position during a raid at Sulaibiya in Kuwait City. Three Jordanian and two Saudi wanted militants surrendered to Kuwaiti security forces after the raid on a suspected hideout, the interior ministry said.(AFP/Yasser al-Zayyat)

Kuwait Special Forces surround an area of Sulaibiya, 20 kilometers (12 miles) northwest of Kuwait City on Saturday, Feb. 5, 2005. Five suspected terrorists holed up at a house in Kuwait surrendered to police Saturday after authorities sealed off the area, Kuwait Television reported. (AP Photo/Gustavo Ferrari)

Kuwait Special Forces surround an area of Sulaibiya,20 kilometers (12 miles) northwest of Kuwait City on Saturday, Feb. 5, 2005. Five suspected terrorists holed up at a house in Kuwait surrendered to police Saturday after authorities sealed off the area, Kuwait Television reported. (AP Photo/Gustavo Ferrari)

At least 4 militants surrender after Kuwait raid

5 February 2005

KUWAIT - At least four militants surrendered to Kuwaiti security forces who had surrounded their hideout in the north of the Gulf Arab country on Saturday, state media said.

“Four terrorists holed up in a house in Sulaibiya area have surrendered,” state television said in an urgent bulletin, adding that security forces continued to search the area.

State news agency KUNA said five militants had surrendered in the raid, the fifth confrontation this year between police and suspected Al Qaeda militants believed to be planning attacks against US troops in Kuwait and state security forces.

Security sources told Reuters that gunfire had erupted in the area but gave no further details.

On Monday, police killed five militants and captured three, including the group’s leader, in a shootout with militants bent on destabilising the US ally.

Used as the main launch pad for the 2003 war in Iraq, Kuwait hosts up to 30,000 US troops and is the key transit route for forces and civilians into Iraq. Some 12,500 American civilians also live in Kuwait.

Authorities have stepped up security around oil and other vital installations after militants tried to attack the country’s largest refinery and a US military camp last month.

Kuwait Police Capture Five Terror Suspects

By JIM KRANE, Associated Press Writer

SULAIBIYAH, Kuwait - Police and troops in armored personnel carriers used explosives to blast their way into a concrete block home in this run-down town Saturday, capturing five suspected terrorists holed up inside.

The men surrendered after police sealed off the neighborhood and raided the house in Sulaibiyah, a mainly Bedouin area about 12 miles west of Kuwait City. No one was injured in the operation.

The Interior Ministry said two of the five men captured are Saudi Arabian citizens and three are Jordanian. All were wanted by Kuwaiti authorities.

Sporadic small arms gunfire and a large explosion broke the night air as a police helicopter hovered overhead, shining a spotlight onto the scene. Police said the blast came from a charge troops used to demolish a door leading into the house.

Police on the scene said authorities were combing the area to ensure nobody escaped. Crowds of men wearing traditional long robes gathered on street corners watching the operation.

Police and Interior Ministry special forces in black ski masks and camouflage uniforms could be seen poised outside a row of dilapidated concrete block houses, with Humvees and armored personnel carriers parked nearby.

Saturday's raid was the fifth confrontation this year between police and al-Qaida-influenced Muslim fundamentalists accused of planning to attack Americans and Kuwaiti security forces.

The operation followed the burial Saturday of 1st Lt. Hamad Majed al-Samhan, who died from wounds sustained in a Jan. 31 shootout between police and fugitive militants.

In a series of raids over the past few weeks, police say they have all but bottled up a group of militants who allegedly planned to attack Americans and Kuwait's state security police.

Many militants oppose the presence of thousands of U.S. troops in the country, a close U.S. ally bordering Saudi Arabia and Iraq.

Kuwait has been a major ally of Washington since U.S.-led 1991 Gulf War that liberated it from a seven-month Iraqi occupation. It was the only Arab country that openly supported the U.S. invasion of Iraq that toppled dictator Saddam Hussein almost two years ago.

Since 2002, militant fundamentalists have killed one U.S. Marine and one civilian contractor.

The oil-rich state is a logistics stop for U.S. troops serving in Iraq. More than 18,000 soldiers are stationed in the country and hundreds of thousands of others have passed through.

The U.S. Embassy has been warning the 13,000 Americans living here to keep a low profile because of terrorism concerns.

'Militants plotted to kidnap Americans'

6 February 2005

KUWAIT CITY — Al Qaeda-linked militants who fought four bloody gunbattles with Kuwaiti security forces over the past month plotted to kidnap and execute US soldiers and Westerners, a newspaper reported yesterday.

Nasser Khlaif Al Enezi, who was killed on January 30, “plotted to kidnap US soldiers and Western civilians and execute them and film the process,” his brother Amer, the alleged leader of the group, told interrogators, Al Qabas daily said.

Amer said his brother, a senior member of the group, received training for such operations while in Iraq fighting against US-led coalition troops, the paper said, quoting sources close to the investigation.

Nasser also received instructions from “armed terrorist groups” in Iraq to attack US military convoys on their way to Iraq from bases in Kuwait in a bid to obstruct supplies headed for Baghdad, the daily said.

The killings were to have taken place at a house in Umm Al Haiman, south of the capital, which is close to the largest US military base at Arifjan and also near US supply lines.

Security forces raided the house on January 15, killing a Saudi militant and arresting three other militants, as an unspecified number fled.

The government told parliament in a closed-door session on Tuesday that documents seized from the group show the militants plotted attacks on US military convoys, Western civilian targets and the headquarters of the State Security Agency, the country’s secret police.

Security for US military convoys in Kuwait has been boosted, with more Kuwaiti police cars accompanying the convoys. Traffic is stopped on some occasions.

There are some 25,000 US troops stationed in staunch Washington ally Kuwait, which serves as a transit point for coalition forces moving in and out of Iraq.

Meanwhile, Kuwait remained on a state of alert in the wake of violence that left 14 people dead as security forces continued the hunt for a number of fugitives after killing eight of them and capturing 14 others.

Armoured vehicles and heavily armed police stood guard around embassies, some government buildings and at the facilities of the cotntry’s lifeline oil industry. Kuwait sits on 10 per cent of global oil reserves.

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