Kuwait detains soldiers for plot against U.S. forces
(Agencies)
Updated: 2005-01-04 08:45

Kuwaiti security forces have detained up to eight Kuwaiti soldiers suspected of plotting to attack U.S. forces in the Gulf Arab state, a security source said Monday.

The soldiers, some of whom are high-ranking officers, and several non-Kuwaiti citizens were detained a week ago and are being questioned over an alleged plan to attack U.S. soldiers in Kuwait, the launchpad for the 2003 war on Iraq.

Kuwait's official news agency KUNA quoted a military official as saying that Kuwaiti "Army Intelligence's security apparatus is interrogating some members of the military after what surfaced on a plot against friendly troops."

Kuwait's Defence Minister Sheikh Jaber al-Mubarak al-Sabah seen in 2004. The Kuwaiti army said it had arrested a number of soldiers who were planning to attack 'friendly forces' in the emirate, two weeks after the United States warned of the increased possibility of militant attacks. [AFP/file]

Director of Moral Guidance and Public Relations, Army Chief of Staff, Air Commodore Yousef Abdelrazzak al-Mulla told KUNA that some men had been released. Anyone with proven links to the alleged plot would be referred to the martial court, he added.

Al-Mulla declined to say how many soldiers had been detained.

U.S. officials were not immediately available for comment.

The United States has warned Americans in Kuwait that militants are preparing to launch attacks in the Gulf Arab state and has urged its citizens to be vigilant.

Following a December attack on a U.S. consulate in Saudi Arabia, Kuwait boosted security around oil and other key installations and major Western embassies in the OPEC nation, which controls nearly 10 percent of global petroleum reserves.

The Gulf Arab state has been cracking down on Muslim militants opposed to the presence of U.S. forces in the oil-rich country as well as those plotting attacks against foreign troops in neighboring Iraq.

A group of 20 Kuwaiti men are being tried for plotting to attack U.S.-led forces in Iraq and Kuwait. A Kuwaiti court is also trying another group of three Kuwaiti men accused of entering the Iraqi city of Falluja to fight U.S.-led forces.

Close

Today's Top News     Top World News
Premier Wen visits miners, vows to curb big accidents         Relief in focus as survival hopes fade         Chinese death rises in quake aftermath         Macao doctors join team to provide aid         Expats worry for families, homelands         Ku remembered as 'great man'	Relief in focus as survival hopes fade       Eight days on, ailing tsunami survivors await aid       Car bombs, explosion kill 16 in Iraq       Protesters clash with police amid cutbacks       159 Britons feared killed in tsunami       Dusty tourists threaten delicate David