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04/05/2008
By Khalid Al-Hajri and Fahad Al-Fuhaiman
Special to the Arab Times
KUWAIT CITY : The Ministry of Interior has started investigating the case of two Kuwaitis — Abdullah Al-Ajmi and Nasser Al-Dousari — who allegedly infiltrated to Iraq and carried out a suicide bombing attack on Mosul, highly reliable sources told the Arab Times. Sources disclosed the Ministry is currently looking at the possibility of sending a criminal investigation team to Iraq to establish the identity of the bodies found in Mosul. Sources added securitymen have interrogated friends and relatives of both men to determine their whereabouts. Sources said Al-Ajmi and Al-Dousari left the country on April 6, 2008 using fake passports as the State Security Department withheld their original passports for five years.
On the other hand, security experts were surprised as to how these men managed to go out of the country considering they were supposed to be under surveillance, particularly Al-Ajmi, who was released recently from Guantanamo Bay Prison. They wondered how can the Interior Ministry fail to notice the absence of the two men who, sources say, have been away for three weeks before the security authorities discovered their absence. They said the relatives of both men have the right to sue the Ministry for its negligence. Meanwhile, sources revealed Deputy Premier, Minister of Foreign Affairs Sheikh Dr Mohammed Sabah Al-Salem Al-Sabah has communicated with the Iraqi authorities regarding the Mosul attack. Sources said the Ministry of Foreign Affairs has two options — it can either ask for the repatriation of the men’s bodies to be buried in Kuwait or send investigators to verify the identities of these bodies. Sources warned this incident will jeopardize ongoing procedures for the release of other Kuwaitis detained in Guantanamo.
Chairman of the Committee for the relatives of Guantanamo detainees Khalid Al-Adwa refused to comment on the issue until proven that Al-Ajmi is indeed one of the suicide bombers.
“Both the Iraqi and Kuwaiti authorities are yet to confirm if the bodies are that of Al-Ajmi and Al-Dousari. One of the websites and Al-Ajmi’s relatives have contacted the Iraqi Ministries of Interior and Foreign Affairs but they have not confirmed reports on the Kuwaitis involved in the attack until now,” Al-Adwa clarified.
Pointing out that suicide bombing is not part of the Kuwaiti culture and religion, Al-Adwa revealed Al-Ajmi suffered from psychological problems during his detention at Guantanamo. Al-Ajmi, one of five Kuwaiti detainees released in Nov, 2005, claimed the American authorities tortured them and insulted their religion, Al-Adwa added.
In the meantime, Interior Minister Sheikh Jaber Al-Khaled Al-Sabah denied accusations that the Kuwaitis managed to infiltrate Iraq due to the Ministry’s negligence, reports Arrouiah daily.
Commenting on rumors that the father of one of the alleged suicide bombers will sue the Ministry for its failure to monitor the movements of his son, Sheikh Jaber explained the Ministry is not responsible for tracking down the movements of citizens. He said the father should blame himself for his inability to raise his son properly.
Sheikh Jaber vowed to investigate how the citizens obtained fake passports upon his return from vacation. He said citizens banned for travel abroad or those whose passports were withheld by the State Security Department can only get their passports back through a court decision.
Refuting accusations against his son, the father of one of the accused, identified as C.C., wondered how can his son get his passport back considering it was suspended by the authorities when he returned to Kuwait after being released from Guantanamo. He admitted his son left Kuwait on April 6 and headed to an undisclosed Arab nation and later went to Iraq.
The brother, identified as S.C., said the government cleared his brother from the accusations and he was with his wife, who is in her eighth month of pregnancy, prior to the incident. He accused some people of brainwashing his brother to do such a horrible act.
In related developments, security authorities tasked to follow-up Kuwaiti fighters in Bosnia and Herzegovina, Chechnya, Afghanistan and Iraq revealed many of these fighters, who were released from undisclosed American prisons and Guantanamo, have returned to the country through the support of international and Arab Islamist groups, including Al-Qaeda, reports Al-Nahar.
Speculations are rife that Al-Ajmi and Al-Dousari are members of one of these groups. Sources said other members of these groups have entered and left Kuwait using forged passports. Sources disclosed these groups often operate under the sponsorship of charitable organizations licensed to carry out humanitarian activities, not only in Arab nations but also in other countries. Sources added members of these groups have undergone rigorous military and infiltration training programs.
The General Administration of State Security summoned all men who were recently released from Guantanamo Bay prison and confiscated their passports as a precautionary measure following the suicide operation launched in Al-Mosul in Iraq by two Kuwaitis — Abdullah Al-Ajmi and Nasser Al-Dousari — who were released from the infamous prison two years ago, Al-Qabas daily quoted an informed source as saying.
The source said the State Security summoned Abdullah Al-Ajmi’s brothers to question them on the way Al-Ajmi managed to leave for Iraq and the persons who were in contact with him. The brothers said they know nothing about him and that he accused them of being infidels, so they refused to attend his wedding ceremony.
According to the source, initial investigations revealed that Al-Ajmi traveled to Syria and then to Iraq with Nasser Al-Dousari.
Investigations also revealed that there was a link between terrorist groups in Iraq and organizations outside Iraq and these links provide them logistic support.
Other informed sources disclosed that 83 Kuwaitis are in Afghanistan and 10 others are in Iraq “ready to launch suicide operations against US forces.”
Kuwaiti singer Hussein Al-Ahmad and a son of a Kuwaiti martyr are in Afghanistan, said sources, adding “these Kuwaitis might be leaving the country via sea and then going to Kabul to join other non-Kuwaiti groups.”
SOURCE: Arab Times
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