| Washington has warned Kuwait, a chief ally in the Gulf, about the suspected links of nine Kuwaitis to Al Qaeda and their alleged involvement in anti-US fighting in Iraq, a newspaper reported Saturday. Quoting security sources, Al-Siyassa said the warning was conveyed during a recent secret visit to the emirate by Frances Townsend, US deputy national security advisor for combating terrorism. Townsend met Prime Minister Sheikh Sabah al-Ahmad al-Sabah and top security officials and handed over an âofficial document containing the names and photos of the nine suspects who are wanted by US authorities,â the daily claimed. The document charges that the nine are âconnected with acts of violence and were indirectly linkedâ to the October 2000 attack on the US destroyer Cole in Yemenâs Aden port which left 17 US sailors dead. It also detailed the charges against each suspect, which included coordination with Osama bin Ladenâs Al Qaeda terror network to recruit members to fight against US forces in Iraq, the paper said. The daily identified the nine by their initials and said some are serving jail terms in the emirate. Townsend is also reported to have âprotestedâ against a local courtâs acquittal last month of five Kuwaitis, some of whom figure among the nine, who were accused of links to an attack on US troops in the emirate in 2002 in which one marine was killed, it also said. Kuwaiti courts have recently convicted a total of five Kuwaitis and one Egyptian in separate cases of trying to kill American soldiers in Kuwait. Many other suspects have also been released. |