US military base attack averted and six arrested, says Kuwait ministry

Kuwait says it has foiled an attack by suspected al Qa'eda members on a US military base on its territory.

KUWAIT CITY // Kuwait said yesterday that it had foiled an attack by suspected al Qa'eda members on a US military base on its territory and arrested six nationals over their alleged role in the plot. The six Kuwaitis were also planning to attack state security offices and other government buildings, according to an interior ministry statement. About 15,000 US soldiers are stationed in Kuwait, the oil-rich Gulf emirate which is also used as a transit point for thousands of US soldiers going to and from neighbouring Iraq. The suspects confessed to planning an attack on the Arifjan base, which lies south of the Kuwaiti capital close to the Saudi border, the ministry said. Dubai-based Al Arabiya television said the attack was planned to be carried out during the Muslim holy month of Ramadan. Al Qa'eda linked militants accused of plotting to attack US forces in Kuwait and Iraq were involved in a deadly gunfight with Kuwaiti troops in 2005. * Agence France-Presse