KUWAIT, 30 January 2003 — A clandestine group that claimed responsibility for last week’s attack on Americans in Kuwait vowed to carry out more operations to "liberate Kuwait from colonialism", Asharq Al-Awsat newspaper reported yesterday.

The London-based daily said a man it interviewed over the Internet and who identified himself as leader of the "Daawa and Jihad" group disclosed that his organization was affiliated to Al-Qaeda leader Osama Bin Laden.

"We are fighting to get the infidels out of the Arabian Peninsula, to liberate Kuwait from colonialism and fighting to liberate our prisoners in Cuba, as well as in support of our brothers in Iraq, Afghanistan and Palestine," said the man, who identified himself as Abu Osama Al-Kuwaiti.

Kuwait, where thousands of US troops are assembling for a possible invasion of Iraq, has recently witnessed a string of isolated attacks against US forces.

"We took the initiative to unify these efforts under the name of Daawa and Jihad and we carried out attacks against the enemy’s equipment," he added.

In last Tuesday’s attack near a US military base, a Kuwaiti fired on a car, shooting dead its occupant, civilian Michael Rene Pouliot, and injuring his colleague David Caraway.

Police said Kuwaiti Sami Al-Mutairi, 25, confessed to the killing and that three other men were being held for providing him with weapons.

Al-Kuwaiti denied that Mutairi was involved in the ambush and said it was the work of another member of the group called Abu Hadhifa Al-Kuwaiti.

He said his group would not hesitate to target Kuwaiti officials who might try to obstruct members of the group.

Officials in Kuwait have said Mutairi was a self-professed supporter of the Al-Qaeda network.

Mutairi had access to a large weapons storage facility run by a militant that included rocket-propelled grenades and AK-47 assault rifles, a senior security official said yesterday. He was confirming a report in Kuwait’s Al-Rai Al-Aam newspaper.

The arms were left over by Iraqi troops during the 1990-1991 occupation of Kuwait, he said. That could not be independently confirmed.

"If attacks are planned, criminals can get weapons," said the official, who asked not to be named. (R)