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| Arabia |
| 13 Osamanauts referred to prosecution |
| 2005-01-26 |
| Thirteen suspected Islamist militants arrested following separate clashes with security men in Kuwait have been referred to the public prosecution for questioning, a judicial source said Tuesday. The source said the suspects, believed to be linked to the Al-Qaeda network, were referred late Monday and that a second group is expected to be transferred to judicial authorities on Tuesday. The source did not state the charges levelled against the suspects by police but Al-Qabas newspaper said Tuesday that they are allegedly linked to militants in neighbouring Saudi Arabia and to the group of Iraq's most wanted man, Abu Musab al-Zarqawi. The suspects were "plotting to attack US targets" and were "authorised to clash with Kuwaiti security forces if necessary", the daily said. According to Kuwaiti law, suspects are referred to the judiciary by the police on the basis that they require questioning by a higher authority based on evidence supplied by the police. The prosecution is at liberty to take a number of measures, including referring them to court or releasing them. A January 15 gunbattle between militants and Kuwaiti security forces left one Saudi gunman killed in Umm al-Haiman, south of the capital near the border with Saudi Arabia. The shootout near the largest US military base in Kuwait, came five days after another clash closer to the capital left two security officers dead. The authorities have seized arms and explosives in subsequent raids around the tiny oil-rich emirate. Two suspects, including the Saudi national, were killed in the two gunbattles, while at least 15 others, a number of them Saudi, were arrested, according to Interior Minister Sheikh Nawaf al-Ahmad al-Sabah. Security forces are still hunting for an unspecified number of militants who fled after the clashes, which were strikingly similar to regular shootouts between Saudi police and presumed Al-Qaeda militants responsible for a spate of shootings and bombings in Saudi Arabia since May 2003. The commander of Kuwait's National Guard, Sheikh Salem al-Ali al-Sabah, said the suspects were members of Al-Qaeda who had plotted to carry out terrorist bombings in the oil-rich emirate. Kuwait has put its security forces on full alert, and security measures around oil facilities and vital installations have been raised to the maximum. |
| Posted by:Dan Darling |