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Kuwait on state of alert as of Saturday
Kuwait will place itself on a war footing as of Saturday, heightening security to curb the possibility of terrorist attacks in the event of a US-led war on Iraq. From February 1, special security units will be placed along major roads and highways in Kuwait, which since last October has witnessed three serious attacks, two of them fatal, against US forces and civilians, Sheikh Mohammed Khalid al-Sabah told newspaper editors. Al-Qabas newspaper cited the minister as saying Kuwait will be a safe country from where there will be no evacuation of foreigners. The units will be comprised of Kuwaiti Army, National Guard and interior ministry personnel, raising the country's level of alert to the "fourth degree", in anticipation of any possible terrorist attacks should the US launch a military campaign against Iraq. OK, the entire country of Kuwait just became invisible. Some 35,000 US troops are currently based in Kuwait and 80,000 more will pour in until mid-February, when the deployment should be completed, said Sheikh Mohammed, who stressed Kuwait was passing through a "difficult phase". Since a January 21 highway ambush that killed US civilian contractor Michael Rene Pouliot and seriously wounded a second American David Caraway, the interior ministry has tightened security along roads leading to the scene of the attack, which occurred close to Camp Doha. Security authorities also rounded up scores of suspects, namely Kuwaitis who had allegedly been in Afghanistan, about time and have since announced the arrest of Kuwaiti Sami Mohammed Marzook al-Mutairi who confessed to the attack and that he "embraced the ideas of al-Qaeda." Truncheons"R"Us had a two for one sale. Posted by: Steve 2003-01-30 |
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