KUWAIT CITY, 17 December 2003 — The US Embassy issued a new security alert to its citizens here yesterday after several American soldiers were wounded in separate attacks, while Kuwait’s interior minister said a prime suspect in the shootings was not linked to Al-Qaeda.
“We recommend that all Americans in Kuwait should keep a low profile and to be alert to their surrounding all the time,” said the latest warden message, addressed to more than 8,000 US citizens living and working in Kuwait.
The message said there were “at least three separate incidents on Dec. 14,” during which “shots were fired at US military personnel in Kuwait, lightly injuring several of them.
“While the Kuwaiti authorities and US military investigated the attacks, the embassy recommends that Americans avoid unnecessary travel to military installations frequented by US forces.”
The British Embassy here has not changed its advice issued last month warning nationals to remain vigilant amid “a significant threat from terrorism.”
Interior Minister Sheikh Nawaf Al-Ahmad Al-Sabah said the prime suspect held in connection with the attacks is not a member of Al-Qaeda and that he was acting alone.
Three other Kuwaitis found at the suspect’s home at the time of the arrest were also detained and are being interrogated to establish if they were involved in the attacks, Sheikh Nawaf told reporters outside Parliament.
“He is not a member of Al-Qaeda. He was acting on his own,” said the minister. “He confessed to carrying out three attacks on US forces and a fourth on a bus.”
