Bangkok--Feb 7--eTurbo news
(Kuwait) When Kuwaiti state security arrested January 15 some 5 suspects after a 5-hour gun battle in Umm Al Haiman, 30 miles outside the capital and then another January 18 in Maidan Hawaly where 15 more picked up, authorities thought that would be the last they'd ever see.
Authorities rounded up February 6 five more insurgents hiding out in Sulaibiyah, believed to be members of the Saudi jihadist ring.
Since then Interior Minister Sheikh Nawaf Al-Ahmad Al-Sabah ordered raids on the hideouts of the militants - an organized group of men from Saudi Arabia who entered the country illegally. They seized 350 hand grenades and 350 detonators near the dumpsite at a park in the Sabahiya Area almost immediately after the second raid. The Ministry has been coordinating operations between the army, the National Guard, the state security forces and the Saudi intelligence. Oil and other vital installations in and around the country have been heavily guarded since. Heads of oil companies were sent notices to take extra precautions as well have become the biggest soft targets of the terrorist ring. Analysts speculate extremists are former jihadists forced out of Bosnia, Chechnya and Afghanistan who made their way to Iraq to fight the Americans.
What occurred this weekend with a couple more shootouts proved a breakdown in intelligence, let alone an increasing disappointment with the rulers, the royal family Al Sabah for maintaining close ties with the American-UK troops and coalition.
Leader of the Kuwaiti National Democratic Movement Dr. Ahmad Bishara said Islamist agitation, indoctrination in the schools, mosques and even in the parliament has captured the minds of young people who have stepped up into armed violence. He said, "These people are being pushed out of Saudi Arabia and Iraq. And Kuwait, mistakenly regarded as no hot spot because of its tolerance has become their new playground," adding that most of the terror cells in Kuwait are basically new.
Since the first incident 2 weeks ago, international chains begin to set up tighter security controls. However, resident expatriates felt somewhat unfazed compared to the foreign visitors to the country. Many American and British expat workers lived through the first days of the US invasion of Iraq during which numerous Iraqi missiles were launched in the direction of Kuwait city, only to be intercepted by the US-supplied missile defence shield.
One obvious reason why the interesting shift takes place in the attitude of local citizens lies in attitude towards the coalition forces. While the US and the UK were seen as the liberators of Kuwait during the first Gulf War of 1990 and while the majority of the Kuwaitis were pleased with the removal of Saddam and his regime, daily news about the suffering of the Iraqi people, prisoner abuse and a mandatory election in the neighbouring country Iraq, which has brought more bloodshed, have made many people in Kuwait question the intentions of the Western coalition. Many Kuwaitis grow increasingly unhappy today with the way the Al-Sabah family has allowed the US to remain in the country this long. Many Kuwaitis are no longer thrilled seeing large numbers of American soldiers on Kuwaiti soil, let alone the Saudi and other so-called freedom fighters who stage attacks against the Western targets in Kuwait every now and then.
While every Kuwaiti agrees they are better off without Saddam next door, life in this Gulf state was nevertheless quiet in the years AFTER the Gulf War and BEFORE the Iraq invasion. Some hoteliers have confirmed immediate satisfaction obviously when occupancy shot high due to arrivals by Western officials and the foreign press. (One luxury US chain confirmed adding in just a few months wing upon wing of lavishly appointed VIP floors and suites, what it would take contractors to construct the same in 3-4 years).
Tourism officials, presented with better statistics, marvelled at the new tourism created - military tourism. Today, they see rising problems in the neighbouring country spilling over the Kuwait: US and British contractors operating out of Kuwait into Iraq feeling uneasy as many have become soft targets. US soldiers on recreation breaks or re-supply visits to Kuwait are certainly target. Altogether, there are about 18,000 US troops patrollong Kuwait and civilians based in the country as contractors and execs.
It is a shame that after Kuwaiti tourism recently struck a partnership with the world's tourism authority in developing a tourism master plan with help from the World Tourism Organisation and the United Nations Development Project, disruptions have begun. Initiated 2004, this tourism scheme includes developing the Failaka Island, home to the country's main archaeological sites dating back to the bronze age. A BOT or build-operate-transfer project for Failaka tourism for entertainment launches a programme strategy for the next 20 years costing about US $ 3.3 billion."[The beauty of it is
] we do not start from scratch as the basic infrastructure is already in place," said Tourism undersecretary Nabila Al Anjari. The self-contained resort development comprises accommodation, residential complex, restaurants shops and bazaars, and a media centre will be built upon 2 decades of partnership with the WTO and the UNDP. To start this 2005 supposedly, it will have included major developments in hotels and resorts, leisure, recreational, scientific, technological and ecological exhibitions.
After 911 there was marked increased in Arab arrivals to Kuwait. And last year, aside from military personnel visitors from the US, Kuwait saw an influx from Western Europe, Southeast Asia, Australia and New Zealand who managed to obtain entry visas upon arrival to Kuwait; unlike previously when visas needed to be secured way in advance. The Gulf state also encouraged 100% foreign ownership in tourism upping foreign direct investment capital.
Al Anjari noted the importance of changing the negative image of the Arab Gulf States. Immediately after the US-led Iraq war, Kuwait doubled its interest in mass marketing and promotion leading to diversifying the economic structure.
But with the terrorists in Kuwait still at large however, the task ahead is more than mammoth. Falaika may be Fallujah in the making.
Feared behind closed doors is how much support can possibly come from the population for militants, for Al Qaeda, for anyone who wants to force the US out of Iraq, and for whoever questions the legitimacy of the candidates brought forward for election in Iraq. Are some Kuwaitis turning against their former allies and liberators? News reports about US operatives in Iran, preparing an overthrow of the Iranian regime, plans of a quick in and out operation into Iran to chance upon the regime, and other speculations of what the US might be up to in the Arabian Gulf does not help the situation.
It does not show the US as the " good power " against the evil power and dictators in the region. Au contraire, it is widely seen as the US trying to put an ever larger and firmer footprint on Arab soil whether for, as we know it, the oil or a pre-emptive strike against a possible nuclear threat from Iran.
Average Arabs believe that the US is only acting on Israel's interest.
Obviously Israel would be the first target for any Islamic nation possessing nuclear war heads. While these are all speculations, fact is that the Kuwaiti press pinned Saturday's events quickly on Saudi and other " foreign extremists " who entered the country illegally.
Against a public relations backdrop, the Kuwait Times quoted government officials saying that any national or foreigner who gives refuge to or support armed militants will be dealt with severely. Certainly, there's no sign that the Kuwaiti government is confident of its people's support of its domestic and regional policy and alignment with the coalition.
Terrorist attacks in Kuwait against US / UK and the Kuwaiti government targets are a real and present danger in the state that had hoped to prosper from the 'rebuilt' new Iraq economy.
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