http://www.ctv.ca/servlet/ArticleNews/story/CTVNews/1034177474113_93/?hub=Wo rld
American military personnel fired at armed civilians in Kuwait on Wednesday, the second such incident in as many days. On Tuesday, one U.S. soldier was killed and another injured when a pair of suspected terrorists gained access to an American raining area and opened fire. The assailants were later killed by U.S. Marines. On Wednesday, a civilian vehicle passed an American military vehicle on the road outside Kuwait City and pointed a weapon at the Americans. The soldiers fired at the civilian vehicle and returned to their base uninjured, where they reported seeing the civilian vehicle careening off the road, according to CNN. Citing Pentagon sources, CNN reported that Tuesday's attackers were part of al Qaeda terrorist network. Sources reportedly told CNN the Kuwaitis were trained in Afghanistan terror training camps run by Osama bin Laden's al Qaeda terrorist network. However, it is unclear whether al Qaeda ordered the attack or the gunmen were part of an independent cell. As well, CNN reported the gunmen, identified as Anas Ahmad Ibrahim al-Kandari, 21, and Jassem Mubarak al-Hajri, 26, were believed to have relatives held in Guantanamo Bay, Cuba. The Kuwaiti Interior Ministry described Tuesday's incident as a "terrorist" attack. The Kuwaiti gunmen approached the Marines Tuesday in a pick-up truck and opened fire on troops during a joint Kuwaiti-U.S. military exercise in the country's Failaka island. Marines killed the two assailants after they fled in their truck. Three AK-47s and ammunition was later found inside the truck. The U.S. Marine killed in the attack was identified Wednesday as Lance Cpl. Antonio Sledd, 20, of Hillsborough, Florida. Sledd died during surgery following the attack. The other Marine, who has not been named, is expected to recover. Kuwait has arrested a number of people suspected of aiding the two gunmen, but the motive for the shooting is still unclear. Kuwaiti writer Mohammad al-Mulafi, who knew the gunmen, told Reuters the men who attacked the Marines were upset about a new U.S. law that establishes Jerusalem as the capital of Israel. Palestinians see Jerusalem as the future capital of their independent state. Despite the attack, a U.S. embassy official told Reuters the Marines' annual Eager Mace exercise will continue. The war games began Oct. 1 and are scheduled to last two weeks. About 1,000 Marines were involved in the exercise. Washington has said the games are routine and not related to a possible war with Iraq. Kuwait and the U.S. signed a defence pact at the end of the 1991 Gulf War that liberated the country after it was occupied by Iraq. Kuwait has said it will allow U.S. forces to use its land for a military strike against Iraq -- but only if such action is sanctioned by the United Nations. The U.S. Air Force uses two Kuwaiti bases located near Kuwait City. The Marines are currently located at an isolated U.S. Army base located along the Gulf coast about 20 kilometres west of the capital. xponent Delenda Est Delenda Est Maru rob _______________________________________________ http://www.mccmedia.com/mailman/listinfo/brin-l
