Alleged ringleader of terror group dies in Kuwait
The alleged ringleader of a terror group accused of attacking Americans and Kuwaiti security has died of heart failure while in prison, an Interior Ministry official said today.
Amer Khlaif al-Enezi died yesterday, said the official. Al-Enezi was believed to be in his 30s.
The state-owned Kuwait News Agency said al-Enezi was “moved to the Armed Forces Hospital after he had trouble breathing” and died there.
Al-Qabas daily, which printed a second edition to report the death, said al-Enezi was “in bad physical and psychological condition” when he was questioned by prosecutors yesterday. He was checked by doctors in the afternoon and died at night, the independent daily said, quoting “informed sources”.
The newspaper is known to be reliable but its report could not be independently confirmed.
Al-Enezi was arrested last month in a police raid on a house in Mubarak Al Kabir, south of Kuwait City. He was questioned by state security and then referred to the prosecution.
The government has been locked in a battle against militant Muslims since last month. Al-Enezi and scores of other terror suspects were being questioned by the prosecution on accusations of plans to attack the country’s state security as well as American civilians and members of the US military.
Police have clashed with Muslim fundamentalists in five deadly shoot-outs in the last month, killing eight militants, including al-Enezi’s brother, Nasser. Some 40 suspects have been detained and are being interrogated by the prosecution. Others are still at large. Four policemen and two bystanders have also died in the clashes.
The violence has alarmed Kuwaitis, marking the first time Kuwaiti blood has been spilled at home in the war on terror.
Kuwait’s Interior Minister, Sheik Nawwaf Al Ahmed Al Sabah, told lawmakers in a closed meeting last month that the terror group was composed of 24 people, including Saudi Arabians, Jordanians and stateless Arabs who have lived in this oil-rich state for generations without acquiring citizenship.
As part of a campaign to spread religious tolerance and moderation, the government has announced it will demolish unlicensed mosques where most of the extremist teaching is believed to be taking place. Websites that espouse militant ideology are also being shut down or blocked.
Kuwait is a major ally of Washington but its militants widely oppose the US military presence in their country. Since 2002, they have attacked the US military and American civilians working for them, killing a Marine and a contractor.
