The leader of a cell which allegedly plotted to kidnap US soldiers and other Westerners in Kuwait died in custody overnight of heart failure, the Interior Ministry said Wednesday. Kuwaiti daily Al-Qabas added on its website that the suspect was being questioned by prosecutors Tuesday when he began to feel ill and was examined by doctors before he died. "Amer Khleif Al-Enezi died last night of heart failure," an Interior Ministry statement said. Enezi, 29, was detained on Jan 31 along with five of his supporters after a nine-hour firefight with security forces in which four gunmen were killed.Another man who was arrested later died of his wounds. The cell of militants allegedly plotted to kidnap US soldiers and other Westerners and film their murders and carry out attacks on US military convoys heading for Iraq. The London-based Islamic Observatory, which monitors the treatment of Islamist prisoners in the Middle East, charged that Enezi had died "under torture" and demanded an independent commission of inquiry. "Enezi was killed because he refused to give information" on wanted Islamists, it said in a statement received by AFP in Dubai. "We call on the authorities to authorise the setting up of a neutral commission of inquiry, made up of Kuwaiti MPs, lawyers' unions representatives and doctors to elucidate the circumstances and reasons for this killing." Kuwaiti Islamist MP Waleed Al-Tabtabei, meanwhile, sent questions to Interior Minister Sheikh Nawaf Al-Ahmad Al-Sabah about the "circumstances surrounding the death" and whether Enezi's body was examined by forensics. The lawmaker, who demanded copies of the report on Enezi's death, also asked if security authorities had complied with the Constitution which bans the torturing of suspects during interrogation.
Enezi was a mosque preacher in Jahra, 40 kilometres (25 miles) northwest of Kuwait City, until a few months ago when he was reportedly dismissed by the Ministry of Awqaf and Islamic affairs because of his "extremist views". Enezi's younger brother, Nasser, allegedly his right-hand man, was killed on Jan 30 in a gunbattle with security forces in Kuwait City during which a police officer was also killed. Security forces have fought gunbattles with al-Qaeda-linked Islamist gunmen, killing eight of them and capturing at least 14 others over the past month. Four police officers were also killed and 10 others wounded. According to press reports, Enezi confessed during interrogation that his group, the Peninsula Lions Brigade, was linked to the Saudi militant Al-Haramain Brigades, which has links with al-Qaeda. Enezi also reportedly confessed that his younger brother underwent explosives training in Iraq and that the group was planning attacks on US military convoys using Kuwait as a transit point to Iraq. Newspapers have reported that the ringleader told investigators the militants' aim was to set up an "Islamic emirate."