KUWAIT CITY, 22 March 2003 — A vehicle carrying a team of Arab News journalists was shaken at about 8.30 p.m. yesterday as a surface-to-surface Scud missile launched by Iraq on Kuwait passed by the vehicle and fell into the sea.
It was the second Iraqi missile to end up in the sea. Anticipating this, Kuwaiti authorities said they did not set off the sirens.
Meanwhile, black clouds appeared north of Kuwait amid reports of 30 burning oil wells. American military sources told Arab News that the cause of the oil fires was still unknown. In their Friday sermons, imams at mosques in various parts of Kuwait urged the public to stand united and safeguard the country’s security and stability.
The imam of Al-Khorafi Mosque read out a statement from the Ministry of Endowment urging the public to refrain from activities that would undermine the emirate’s security. The worshipers prayed to God to end the present difficult crisis as quickly as possible.
Normalcy returned to Kuwait yesterday as many people enjoyed their food at public restaurants and recreation centers. However, restaurant owners said that there was a noticeable fall in the number of customers. Many had traveled abroad as repeated sirens sounded 12 times in the city in the last two days. The Education Ministry declared a seven-day official holiday for the state, beginning today.
First Lt. A. Al-Rushaidi, an officer at Salimiya police station, disclosed that his office had not arrested any troublemakers or saboteurs over the past two days. “Things are stable in the area as well as in Kuwait,” he added.
A group of Kuwaiti youth gathered yesterday in Salimiya Street, one of the major business centers in the country, to discuss the war and its repercussions.
A number of young Kuwaitis sitting in restaurants and coffee shops told Arab News that they were sure the US-led alliance would emerge victorious.
Remnants of a Scud missile fell in Jahra Al-Ahmadi on Thursday and a Kuwaiti military source told Arab News that nobody was hurt.
However, the debris destroyed the glass fronts of a number of shops in the area.
Meanwhile, security has been beefed up at the Hilton Hotel in Ahmadi, the media headquarters of the American forces.
Kuwait’s streets, normally busy with people cruising on the weekend, were filled with checkpoints where drivers were stopped to show their identification papers.
They grew more deserted as the day wore on and the sirens warned of every attack. An eerie calm hung over the city while smoke from Iraqi oil wells burning in the south cast a dark cloud over Kuwait.
