| Two steps forward, one step back. |
 Police released five men detained in a raid west of the Kuwaiti capital after finding they were not linked to militants, one of the men said Tuesday. The men were arrested Saturday after a series of gunbattles over the past month in the emirate between security forces and militants that left four policemen and eight suspects dead. "They took us away on suspicion, but freed all of us after they found we were not involved in the recent incidents in Kuwait. Everything is clear for us," Khaled Adhan al-Shimmari told AFP by telephone from his home. The interior ministry had described the five as "wanted men" and said three were Jordanians and two Saudis. But Shimmari said all five men held Saudi citizenship.
The men, originally stateless Arabs, include three brothers, a relative and a neighbour. They were freed late Monday. Shimmari, a mosque preacher, ...
| ... more probable cause ... |
... denied local press reports that they had resprayed a car used by militants to flee after a January 10 shooting which left two policemen and a militant dead. "This is totally baseless. Security men have also not seized any weapons from our houses. We respect law and order in this country," he said.
| Just like all good jihadis everywhere! |
The five men surrendered to security men without a fight after a large number of police backed by armoured vehicles and helicopters on Saturday raided two houses in Sulaibiya, 20 kilometers (12 miles) from the capital. Police fired gunshots and several smoke bombs before the men gave themselves up. There were no casualties. Prime Minister Sheikh Sabah al-Ahmad al-Sabah said Monday he expected "terrorism will continue" in the emirate and warned it could spread to other Gulf states. |