Kuwait : A Filipino man, whose identity has not been disclosed, was reportedly caught by police in Sharq for breaking the fasting rules during Ramadan, reports Al-Anba daily.
The incident took place on the first day of Ramadan. He was caught drinking in the open in broad daylight.
According to reports the man faces a KD 100 fine or 30 days imprisonment.

The Prophet’s (PBUH) sermon on the advent of Ramadan

‘O  People! The month of Allah (Ramadan) has come with its mercies, blessings and forgivenesses. Allah has decreed this month the best of all months. The days of this month are the best among the days and the nights are the best among the nights and the hours during Ramadan are the best among the hours. This is a month in which you have been invited by Him (to fast and pray). Allah has honoured you in it. In every breath you take is a reward of Allah, your sleep is worship, your good deeds are accepted and your invocations are answered. Therefore, you must invoke your Lord in all earnestness with hearts free from sin and evil, and pray that Allah may help you to keep fast, and to recite the Holy Qur’an. Indeed!, miserable is the one who is deprived of Allah’s forgiveness in this great month. While fasting remember the hunger and thirst on the Day of Judgement. Give alms to the poor and needy. Pay respect to your elders, have sympathy for your youngsters and be kind towards your relatives and kinsmen. Guard your tongue against unworthy words, and your eyes from scenes that are not worth seeing (forbidden) and your ears from sounds that should not be heard.

Be kind to orphans so that if your children may become orphans they will also be treated with kindness. Do repent to Allah for your sins and supplicate with raised hands at the times of prayer as these are the best times, during which Allah Almighty looks at His servants with mercy. Allah Answers if they supplicate, Responds if they call, Grants if He is asked, and Accepts if they entreat. O people! you have made your conscience the slave of your desires. Make it free by invoking Allah for forgiveness. Your back may break from the heavy load of your sins, so prostrate yourself before Allah for long intervals, and make this load lighter. Understand fully that Allah has promised in His Honour and Majesty that, people who perform salat and sajda (prostration) will be guarded from Hell-fire on the Day of Judgement.

O people!, if anyone amongst you arranges for iftar (meal at sunset) for any believer, Allah will reward him as if he had freed a slave, and Allah will forgive him his sins. A companion asked: “but not all of us have the means to do so” The Prophet (SAAWS) replied: Keep yourself away from Hell-fire though it may consist of half a date or even some water if you have nothing else.

O people!, anyone who during this month cultivates good manners, will walk over the Sirat (bridge to Paradise) on the day when feet will tend to slip. For anyone who during this month eases the workload of his servants, Allah will make easy his accounting, and for anyone who doesn’t hurt others during this month, Allah will safeguard him from His Wrath on the Day of Judgement. Anyone who respects and treats an orphan with kindness during this month, Allah shall look at him with kindness on that Day. Anyone who treats his kinsmen well during this month, Allah will bestow His Mercy on him on that Day, while anyone who mistreats his kinsmen during this month, Allah will keep away from His Mercy. Whomever offers the recommended prayers during this month, Allah will save him from Hell, and whomever observes his obligations during this month, his reward will be seventy times the reward during other months. Whomever repeatedly invokes Allah’s blessings on me, Allah will keep his scale of good deeds heavy, while the scales of others will be tending to lightness. Whomever recites during this month an ayat (verse) of the Holy Qur’an, will get the reward of reciting the whole Qur’an in other months.

O people!, the gates of Paradise remain open during this month. Pray to your Lord that they may not be closed for you. While the gates of Hell are closed, pray to your Lord that they never open for you. Satan has been chained, invoke your Lord not to let him dominate you. Ali ibn Talib (RAA) said: “I asked, ‘O messenger of Allah, what are the best deeds during this month’?” ‘He replied: ‘O Abu-Hassan, the best of deeds during this month is to be far from what Allah has forbidden’.”

KUWAIT CITY, Aug 18:  The Public Prosecutor on Tuesday charged the woman, identified only as N.S, who has been accused of setting fire to a marriage tent in Jahra last Saturday, with premeditated murder and arson that led to the death of 45 women and children.
The suspect appeared before the Public Prosecution late Monday evening where she told the prosecutor that she only committed the crime after receiving an SMS message from one of the sisters of her ex-husband, telling her that the wedding was about to start.
Prosecutor Faisal Al-Harbi headed the interrogations at Main Qasr Palace, under the supervision of Al-Jahra Chief Prosecutor Talal Al-Shaye to prevent the relatives of the victims from disturbing the proceedings.  The suspect arrived at the Public Prosecution under tight security.  She was escorted by uniformed and plainclothes officers.  She was said to be in very bad psychological condition and on the verge of tears.
The suspect admitted the crime when she appeared before the Public Prosecution and her confessions have been documented through audio and video recordings. 
According to the suspect, her ex-husband filed for divorce six months ago, but they reconciled later, then he filed for divorce again, and the decision was finalized only three days before he got married to the second wife. 
While the wedding ceremony was going on, the suspect allegedly received an SMS message from one of the groom’s sisters, encouraging her to attend the wedding party as everything was going smoothly.  It was at this point that she decided to spoil the wedding.  She also told the authorities that she has been experiencing financial difficulties and she still loves her husband, so she ruined the wedding.  She kept on repeating, “I did not expect such a tragedy to happen.”
The family of the woman is finding it difficult to get a lawyer because all those who have been approached reportedly refused to take up the case.
Sources told the Arab Times that the lawyers do not want to defend the suspect because of the sensitivity of the case. 
On the other hand, security sources said the Criminal Investigation Department (CID) has started checking cassettes from the surveillance cameras at the gasoline station where the suspect allegedly purchased petrol to identify the taxi driver.  The Public Prosecution has also issued a warrant for the arrest of the driver.
Sources revealed the security authorities also summoned a Filipina, who supervised the wedding buffet, for questioning.
Sources added the Public Prosecution on Tuesday called owners of the cars that were damaged by the fire for questioning. 



Following are excerpts from the interrogations:
Prosecutor:  What is your name?

Suspect: My name is N.Y.M.S.

Prosecutor:  Why did you commit this crime?

Suspect:  I never thought it would end up this way.  I just wanted to create disturbance at the wedding and spoil the happiness of my husband.  (She started crying.)  I received a message from the sister of my husband, saying, the wedding is amazing.  This provoked me to pour petrol on the tent and set fire to it. 
She kept on saying “I did not expect death and injuries.”

Prosecutor:  You have been accused of intentionally setting fire to the tent and causing the death of 41 women and children, who attended your ex-husband’s wedding.  The number of death is increasing.  You also disfigured tens of women.

Suspect:  I swear to Allah I did not mean to hurt or kill anyone.  (She continued crying.)  All the casualties were my husband’s victims.  He is the reason behind this tragedy.  Initially, I thought the fire would spoil the wedding and make the women run away, but I heard horrifying screams, so I immediately went back to the taxi, which was waiting for me outside the venue and took me back home.  The driver had no idea that I set fire to the tent.  All I wanted was to make my husband regret his actions.

The Prosecutor allowed the suspect to rest for one hour before going on with the interrogation as she was crying continuously.

Prosecutor:  I need you to provide me with details of what happened.

Suspect:  Hours before the wedding, I was thinking of a way to spoil the ceremony.  My desire to ruin the wedding intensified when I received an SMS message from one of the sisters of my husband, saying, the wedding is splendid and everybody is happy.  At the moment, the evil played with my mind as if somebody is telling me, ‘your husband is getting married to another woman.’ 
I immediately called a taxi office in Jleeb Al-Shuyoukh and the driver told me I had to pay KD5 going to Jahra, so I asked him, instead, to take me to a salon in Farwaniya and charged me KD1.5.  After paying the agreed amount, I got off, hailed another taxi and asked the driver to take me to a gasoline station in Sulaibiya, next to Sixth Ring Road.  I took a big bottle of water, emptied it and filled it with petrol.
I then reached Al-Oyoun area in Jahra, where the house of my husband is located, and poured petrol on the side of the airconditioning unit at the marriage tent, ensuring that nobody seen me, and then I used a match stick to light the tent.  I quickly returned to the taxi, which was waiting for me.  After few seconds, I heard sirens as security vehicles, ambulances and firefighters rushed to the location.  I thought they were going to put out the fire, but it never occurred to me that it would cause the death and injury of many people.
I went to my family’s house in Al-Rehab and saw news reports about the death and injuries resulting from a fire in Jahra.  I started crying.  When I arrived at the house, I thought of a way not to raise suspicions on my involvement in the fire.  I went to Al-Rehab Police Station and told security officers that I received a message from somebody, telling me I am one of the suspects, so I asked them to register a case, but they refused because nobody had filed a complaint against me.  I went back home and did not sleep the whole day.
I purchased newspapers the next day, and then the criminal investigators came as they received information about my involvement in the fire.

My husband has criminal records and I lived with him under difficult circumstances.  I sacrificed a lot for him, yet he decided to marry another woman.  All I wanted to do was to spoil his wedding and hurt his relatives, who encouraged him to marry another woman.

Prosecutor:  Is there somebody who knows about your plan to burn the tent?

Suspect: I never told anyone, but I had earlier warned my husband that he will pay a high price if he insists on marrying another woman.  He did not take my warnings seriously.  His sister’s SMS message that the wedding was going well, that everybody was happy, and that my husband would spend the night with his new wife in a hotel, infuriated me.

Prosecutor:  What happened when you returned home?

Suspect:  When the officers at the police station let me go, I discovered that I could get away with the crime.  I tried taking pills to end my life, but I stopped.

 Prosecutor:  Are there disagreements between you and the family of your husband?

Suspect:  His family is the main cause of our problems, even from the start of our relationship.  I spoilt the wedding to burn their hearts and that of my husband. His sisters have done many things to me.

Prosecutor:  What have they done against you?

Suspect:  They used to harm me and tried their best to create problems between me and my husband.  They have succeeded.  They encouraged my husband to marry another woman — a non-Kuwaiti - to get rid of me and my children.  They have given my husband a substitute for me. 

Maid’s interrogation
The Public Prosecution also summoned the Asian housemaid, who works for one of the suspect’s neighbors and is the main witness in this case.  She told investigators that she knows the suspect.  On the day of the incident, she saw the suspect clad in black gown, carrying two bottles of petrol, which she poured on the tent and set fire to it. 
According to the housemaid, she did not attend the wedding party as she stayed in her sponsor’s house to guard it.  She said the tent disappeared within minutes and heard the agonizing cries of women and children.
The investigators released the housemaid after confronting the suspect with these accusations.

Family of the accused
Security sources said the seven brothers of the accused warmly welcomed the officers, who went to their house, to question her.  They quoted the eldest brother as saying that “our sister will be declared not guilty.”  They then entered the diwaniya and women hall where they saw the mother whose eyes were swollen due to incessant crying.

The mother told the officers that on the day of the incident, she instructed her daughters, including the suspect, to clean the rooms as she intends to set up some things she was planning to purchase from Souq Al-Jomaa.  She went out at 7:15 pm and the suspect was inside the house when she left.  While she was at the ‘souq’, she received a call from another daughter, asking her to hurry home, as the other daughter had been accused of causing the fire.  She added her daughter - the accused - received a number of messages, blaming her for the fire.
Revealing several family members attended the wedding, the mother went on to say some of her cousins and aunts were at the party.  She said the aunt of the bridegroom called them to check if the accused was at home.  She confirmed the accused answered the phone, so they (the groom’s relatives) knew that she was at home at the time.  “How can my daughter commit a horrible crime in a matter of minutes?” she wondered.

The mother revealed the groom’s brother also called the accused and when the latter took the call, he allegedly said, “you responded to my call after doing all that!”  She argued these calls only prove that my daughter, the accused, was at home when the fire started.  “My daughter is innocent.  How can she commit such an  act?  She is usually calm and a coward,” she asserted.
Asked if the accused informed the groom that she intended to burn the wedding tent in case he married another woman, the mother stressed “my daughter did not talk to her husband, but his sister kept on sending provoking messages.  She told my daughter that she will never come back to her brother’s house.  Before the wedding, she called my daughter and quarreled with her, prompting my daughter to say, ‘I will burn the house if you give him a new wife.’  She just said it as she was mad at her husband’s sister.  She did not say that she will burn the tent.”   

On the other hand, one of the sisters affirmed the accused had dinner with them as their brother brought food at 9:00 pm.  At the time, the wife of the groom’s uncle called them and asked them to watch news about the fire on TV.  She said the accused received several messages accusing her of setting fire to the tent.  She added the accused and another sister went to their neighbor, identified as Oum Raed, and asked him to testify that the accused was at home when the tragic incident happened.  She stated they informed one of their brothers, who was at a café at the time.  He hurried home and took the accused to Al-Rabiya Police Station to file a complaint about the messages his sister had been receiving, accusing her of committing the crime.  However, the officer at the station told them he could not register a case in this regard.  The officer also pointed out that there was a camera in his room that took their pictures to prove that they were at the station.

Asked if the accused had problems with her husband, the sister, along with other family members, refuted the allegation.  “The groom’s sister instigated conflicts between the couple and she wanted him to marry another woman, so she arranged the whole wedding,” claimed one of the suspect’s sisters.
Asked if the accused knew about the wedding plans, her mother confirmed she knew, but her housemaid had already affirmed that she did not go out of the house and she had dinner with her sisters.
Commenting on the statement of a housemaid who said the accused asked for newspapers at the time of the incident, the family vehemently denied this, claiming this housemaid might have come from the groom’s side.  “Is it logical to ask a housemaid to provide her with newspapers publicly to commit a crime?” the mother asked. 
Another sister told the officers that the suspect’s husband went to their house at 3:30 pm on Tuesday to take some clothes for her as he was expected to go to the cell where the suspect was detained.

Asked if the groom hit the accused when they were still together, the mother and sisters stressed “he never beat her.  She always praised him, saying, he loved her and took care of her, but his sister often caused problems between them.  If not for his sister’s prodding, my daughter’s ex-husband would not have remarried because he loves my daughter.  Everything happened because his sisters convinced him to marry another woman and they even shouldered the wedding expenses.  Moreover, my daughter is very young.  She has little children and is currently pregnant.  Her husband also gave her money before the wedding and had agreed with her that she would return to his house at the beginning of Ramadan as he reserved a separate room for her.”
The mother pointed out if she had an iota of doubt that her daughter went out of the house at the time of the incident, she herself, would declare that her daughter committed the crime.  She also emphasized that her daughter never goes out of the house without her little daughter as the latter is very close to her.  She then asked the Ministry of Interior to be merciful to her daughter.
The wife of one of the brothers of the accused also confirmed that they did not go out of the house as they were asked to clean it.
On the other hand, Oum Raed, the suspect’s neighbor, said in an interview that she was sitting at home when the accused came crying.  “I thought something wrong happened to her mother,” she stated without going into details.

Agencies add:
Toll
The death toll in a fire at a Kuwaiti wedding celebration has risen to 45 women and children, an official said Tuesday, as authorities questioned a suspect they say confessed to starting the blaze.
Fire department chief Brig Gen Jassem Al-Mansouri said four more victims died in hospital and six remained in critical condition.
Authorities announced Monday they had a suspect in custody who confessed to starting the fire for “personal reasons,” but they did not provide any details about that person’s identity.
Calls to the Interior Ministry for comment on the reports were unanswered Tuesday.
Saturday’s blaze in the tribal area of Al-Jahra, west of Kuwait City, destroyed the wedding tent where guests were celebrating in just three minutes. It was Kuwait’s worst fire in almost four decades.
His Highness the Amir Sheikh Sabah Al-Ahmad Al-Jaber Al-Sabah has ordered an “Amiri grant” for families of the victims of fire that broke out on Saturday at a wedding in Jahra’s Al-Ayoun area, said State Minister for Cabinet Affairs Roudhan Al-Roudhan on Tuesday.

Speaking to KUNA, the state minister said, “Due to the brutality of this crime, which was found to have been perpetrated, and due to the immense impact it has had on the feelings of all citizens and expatriates in Kuwait, His Highness the Amir ordered this grant to the families of the victims.”
Meanwhile, King Abdullah bin Abdulaziz ordered transfer on Tuesday of Saudi victims of the Jahra wedding fire in Kuwait to Saudi Arabia for treatment.
Saudi Health Minister Abdullah Al-Rabi’a told the press 12 of the injured victims were flown to Saudi Arabia for treatment.

By Rena Sadeghi, Munaif Nayef and Iqbal Saleh

KUWAIT CITY, Aug 17: “I wanted to burn his heart like he burnt mine when he decided to marry someone else”, the 23-year-old ex-wife of the bridegroom was said to have told authorities investigating the fire that turned a wedding reception tent into an inferno which claimed dozens of lives. The Interior Ministry confirmed Monday afternoon that one person (without mentioning the sex) had been arrested for the fire which took the lives of 41 persons. The ministry only made a short statement, saying, “the perpetrator of the crime has been identified and arrested within a record time” without revealing the identity. “We have identified the person who confessed to committing the crime for personal reasons.”

Thirty-nine died immediately while two died on Monday in hospital.  Except for five children all the other were women, with four of them pregnant. The new bride was injured but she survived.  Her mother and sister, however, died in the fire. The divorce of the ex-wife is said to have been finalized only three days before the wedding. Most of the dead were charred beyond recognition. Some 90 persons were taken to hospital with first, second and third degree burns. Sources say 52 of these remain hospitalized with nearly two dozen sent to Al-Babtain Burns Center. Some of these patients also can’t be recognized. Acting Ministry of Interior Undersecretary Lieutenant General Ghazi Al-Omar and Criminal Investigations Department (CID) Director Major General Abdulhameed Al-Awadhi headed the investigations. 

While the ministry said that the “perpetrator” had confessed to the crime, security sources told the Arab Times that the woman was crying all the time, sometimes confessing that she had committed the crime, and then sometimes retracting her statement and saying that she had nothing to do with it. Sources told the Arab Times that the suspect was taken to the Prosecution Monday. These sources, however, could not say what happened at the Prosecution. The news could not be independently confirmed. Disclosing the perpetrator is detained at a separate cell at the CID building in Salmiya, sources stated she is wearing a ‘hijab’ (veil) and under strict security to prevent her from committing suicide. Sources revealed two CID officers have been deployed to watch over her. Sources added the security authorities are preparing for the arrest of some women who allegedly provoked the perpetrator to set fire to the tent.

The accused is reported to have confessed that she poured petrol over the tent and set it alight. Police sources add it was not the intention of the woman to kill anyone as she was planning to get revenge by spoiling the wedding. The accused, who has two children from her first marriage,  kept insisting Sunday that she had nothing to do with the fire but is said to have confessed Monday after her maid said she saw the woman pouring petrol on the tent. The maid is also said to have heard the woman tell her former mother-in-law, during a fight, that she planned to ruin her former husband’s wedding by burning the tent. Police sources say the temperature inside the tent must have reached 1,500 degrees Centigrade within one minute 30 seconds of the fire being started.  The whole tent burnt down in only three minutes.

In another version of the story published in Al-Watan Arabic daily, sources said the suspect was arrested after a Sri Lankan maid present at the wedding told security officers that she saw the woman carrying a container filled with petrol in one hand and a lighter on the other. The maid claimed the woman also asked for a bunch of papers. Other maids working at the wedding also testified that they had seen the woman set fire to the tent with the help of kerosene-soaked rags. During interrogation, the suspect admitted going to a petrol station in Al-Oyoun by taxi and filling two bottles with kerosene. She then went to the wedding, poured the kerosene outside the tent and set it on fire, after which she left in a taxi.

The suspect went on to add that she did not intend to cause a catastrophe. She only wanted to ruin the night for her ex-husband, as she was upset by his decision to remarry. Investigations are on to find the taxi driver and summon him for questioning. Meanwhile, several patrol teams rushed to Taima and Jahra Police Stations after receiving information that a large number of the victims’ relatives gathered in front of the stations Sunday night. SMS messages have been circulated on the alleged presence of the victim’s families in the stations, prompting the security authorities to put both stations on high alert. However, the security officers did not find anybody at the stations, indicating the victim’s relatives are aware of the hard work of the officers and they trust the ability of the authorities to punish the perpetrator.

Al-Qabas newspaper said the 23-year-old woman had told police she used petrol to torch a wedding tent packed with women and children to avenge her ex-husband’s “bad treatment” of her before their divorce. Interior ministry spokesman Colonel Mohammad Al-Saber told state-run Kuwait Television that Saturday’s fire — which engulfed the tent in just minutes and triggered a panicked stampede —  was an act of arson. “We have identified the perpetrator who confessed to committing the crime for personal reasons,” Saber said, without giving any further details. Last year, two women died and several others wounded in a similar incident in Jahra which lies 50 kms (30 miles) west of the capital and has a population of around 500,000, most of them tribespeople. Most wedding parties in the conservative Muslim Gulf state are segregated in line with local tradition.

Medical officials have said that specialised medical teams from Germany and Britain were to arrive on Monday to treat the injured.
The “final and exact” death toll discussed in a high-level security meeting Monday was 41, said Kuwaiti Fire Department chief, Brig. Gen Jassem Al-Mansouri. Earlier reports Monday had raised the death toll to 43 after two people died overnight from burns. But Al-Mansouri said after further investigation authorities determined that only 39 people died during the initial blaze. He said the bodies were so badly burned, it was difficult for investigators to determine how many people perished. The chief, who described the fire as the worst disaster he’s seen in almost four decades of service, said 6 bodies were still unidentified and it was not known if the bride survived the carnage.

Fifty-two others injured in the blaze remained in the hospital, the health minister, Hilal Al-Sayer, told the TV. Al-Mansouri and the Interior Ministry declined to comment on the reports accusing the ex-wife of having a role in the fire pending an investigation. uthorities have promised to publicize the full results of the probe. “The loss of many lives in a fire that consumed a marriage tent in Al-Oyoun Saturday is a clear indication of people’s outright disregard of the law,” MP Saleh Al-Mulla said Monday. Urging the government to prepare a detailed report on the tragic fire incident which shocked the whole nation, Al-Mulla stressed the government should present an objective and transparent report to the Parliament. He went on to say “MPs will fully support those who did their work honestly, while those who played with people’s lives must face the consequences.”

Al-Mulla praised the Ministry of Interior (MoI), Kuwait Fire Service Directorate (KFSD) and Ministry of Health (MoH) for their prompt response that saved the lives of many people. He said the wedding tents, which were erected in front of the house, accommodated 300 women and children. He claimed such big tents have been established without a license. He asked “what is the role of Kuwait Municipality in this regard? Where are the inspectors who are supposed to check the tents?” After expressing his condolences to the victims’ families, Al-Mulla lamented “the loss of precious lives is a deep blow to our hearts. The whole nation is mourning the death of these people and this incident should be an eye-opener for us to push for the strict implementation of the Municipality bylaw on security and safety procedures implemented in venues for public occasions.”

MP Askar Al-Enezi, on the other hand, cautioned the government against the ramifications of taking routine procedures in dealing with the tragic death of 41 women and children as such an incident requires extraordinary measures.  While commending the efforts of physicians at Al-Jahra Hospital who provided treatment to the first batch of casualties, Al-Enezi criticized the lack of essential medical equipment in the hospital. “This was blatant when some of the injured had to be transferred to other hospitals like Farwaniya and Al-Babtain, proving that Al-Jahra Hospital is not capable of handling emergency situations of such magnitude,” he added. Al-Enezi also unveiled his plan to demand formation of a parliamentary investigative committee to look into medical errors and technical faults in Al-Jahra and Farwaniya governorates. “This is the second time in as many years that a fire has ruined a wedding celebrated by women in Al-Jahra, and yet the government fails to take essential measures of constructing new halls for such occasions,” he said.

In a related issue, former MP Dr Hussein Quwaian has expressed his readiness to treat those injured in the Jahra fire incident at his private clinic free of charge. He emphasized the need to provide all the necessary facilities and means to treat the injured. He suggested the formation of an emergency team that will work round the clock to prevent the recurrence of this tragedy. Stating that HH the Amir of Kuwait Sheikh Sabah Al-Ahmad Al-Sabah and HH the Crown Prince Sheikh Nawaf Al-Ahmad Al-Sabah are keen on providing all means for the treatment of the injured, Quwaian asserted “we, as doctors, should join the Amir and Crown Prince in handling this disaster. In spite of our differences, we should unite under such difficult circumstances.”

By Rena Sadeghi, Dahlia Kholaif, Abubaker A. Ibrahim, Munaif Nayef, Jaber Al-Hamoud and Agencies

KUWAIT CITY, Aug 11, (Agencies): Kuwait said on Tuesday it had foiled an al-Qaeda-linked plan to bomb a US Army camp and other “important facilities” in the country. An Interior Ministry members of the al-Qaeda-linked cell had confessed after being arrested. It did not say if the targeted facilities included oil industry plants in Kuwait, the world’s fourth-largest oil exporter. “The state security has uncovered a terrorist network following al-Qaeda, and includes six (Kuwaiti) citizens who have planned to carry out a plan to bomb Arifjan Camp, the state security building and other important facilities,” the ministry said. Camp Arifjan is located south of Kuwait City and serves as a staging ground for forces deploying in Iraq. Kuwait, the launch pad for the 2003 US-led war on Iraq which ousted Iraqi leader Saddam Hussein, remains a logistics base for the US Army to support its troops in Iraq. The planned withdrawal of US troops from Iraq has not discouraged al-Qaeda from planning attacks on US-allied Arab countries, including Kuwait, political analyst Shafiq Ghabra said.

“Their issue is not the withdrawal of the US (troops), it’s also their ... regime, the existing elite, the existing ruling families,” he said.
Al-Qaeda is now struggling to show they exist after setbacks in Iraq and Pakistan, Ghabra added. “They are trying to hit wherever they feel there is a weakness.”  After the Sept 11, 2001 attacks on US cities, there were a number of al-Qaeda-inspired attacks in Kuwait, including a raid that killed one US Marine and wounded another in October 2002. The government has since waged a largely successful campaign to stamp out violence by Islamist militants.  Al Qaeda’s wing in Yemen named a new leader earlier this year and said the group would expand the scope of its attacks to all Gulf Arab states, including top world oil exporter Saudi Arabia.  Dubai-based Al-Arabiya television said the attack was planned to be carried out during the Muslim holy month of Ramadan, which starts on around Aug 20.

In 2007, a Kuwaiti court commuted death sentences against four members of the Peninsula Lions Brigades, a militant outfit affiliated with Al-Qaeda, to life in prison over those gunbattles that killed four policemen and eight militants, including two Saudis.
The latest Qaeda plot was revealed just days after a visit to Washington by HH the  Amir Sheikh Sabah Al-Ahmed Al-Sabah, who met US President Barack Obama at the White House on August 3.
Obama visited Camp Arifjan in July 2008, before becoming president the following January, after his predecessor George W. Bush made a trip there in January last year. It is the largest US base in the country, where there are smaller camps scattered across the desert.

The statement did not provide any details. However, Kuwait’s Al Rai daily quoted anonymous security sources on Tuesday saying that the group had confessed to buying a truck which it intended to load with fertilizer, chemicals and gas cylinders and ram it into the camp. It was unlikely the attack on the vast American logistics and supply facility in the desert south of the Kuwaiti capital would have been successful due to high security. Camp Arifjan will likely be an essential hub for withdrawing American troops from Iraq. A Baghdad-Washington agreement calls for US combat troops to withdraw by August 2010, leaving behind a residual force of 35,000-50,000 troops to train and advise the Iraqi security forces until a final pullout by the end of 2011. Earlier, security sources were reported to identified four of the six suspects as A.Q, A.K, Y.K and KH.K. However, sources differed on the timings of the attacks with Al Rai stating that the attacks were planned to be carried out next week, while Al Jarida said the strikes were planned for Ramadan.

Meanwhile, Lt Col Margaret Brooks, Public Affairs Officer at Camp Arifjan, told the Arab Times that the camp is aware of the foiled terror attack from the local newspapers. “Kuwaiti army takes security issues very seriously, and we are closely coordinating with them.” A source revealed that the members of the cell admitted to targeting some sensitive locations in the country. “One of the suspects, A.Q, was under the surveillance of the state security and arrested for interrogation. “During interrogations, A.Q provided securitymen with information on his partners, including KH.K, who were involved in the planning of the terrorist attack that targeted US troops on Failaka Island on Oct 9, 2002.  “The suspects admitted to planning attacks on Camp Arifjan and some important locations in Kuwait, in addition to their training to plant and detonate explosives. They also admitted to possessing automatic rifles and revolvers which were hidden in a secret location. “The police raided farms, chalets and houses used by the suspects and seized maps and sketches of places targeted for attacks.” Al-Jarida Daily mentioned that security authorities received information from their Bahraini counterparts about terror cells in Bahrain and Kuwait being in contact with each other.