Kuwait said yesterday it was questioning 30 suspects in connection with a deadly shootout between militants and police, as liberals accused the government of promoting terror by supporting Islamists. "The interrogation is ongoing with 30 suspects," Interior Minister Sheikh Nawaf Al-Ahmed Al-Sabah, told Al-Anba newspaper, after Monday's gunbattle left two intelligence officers and one assailant dead. The minister did not rule out that the perpetrators of the incident, a rare occurrence in Kuwait, could be among those detained.The arrests came as part of a major crackdown by security forces in areas used by suspected militants following the gunfight, which triggered a new US warning to its citizens in Kuwait. Those arrested include the assailants' alleged ideological mentor, a hard-liner, a security source told AFP. "I don't think it is a terrorist plot because of the circumstances that surrounded the incident," Sheikh Nawaf told the daily, after earlier declining to link the militants to Al-Qaeda until investigations are completed. Security authorities are hunting for an unknown number of militants who fled after gunning down the two officers and wounding two others. A security official told AFP Tuesday that two to three militants, believed to be linked to Al-Qaeda, were being pursued.
| "No, no! It's not terrorism! It's... ummm... something else." |