Pakistanis angry over detentions in Times Sq. case Monday, May 24, 2010
ISLAMABAD – Relatives of three men detained by Pakistan for alleged links to the suspect in the attempted Times Square bombing say the men are innocent.
They
AFP - Thursday, August 6TAIPEI (AFP) - - Taiwan's Beijing-friendly government on Wednesday denied boycotting an Australian film festival amid a row over the e
BERLIN (Reuters) - Chancellor Angela Merkel suffered a double blow on Thursday as a senior party ally in east German
Minister seeks closure of anti-Berlusconi websites Wednesday, December 16, 2009
ROME (AFP) - – The Italian government moved Tuesday to close down Internet sites encouraging further violence against Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi, who
By ELAINE KURTENBACH,AP Business Writer AP - Wednesday, March 18SHANGHAI - Asia's stock market rally seemed to be running out of steam Wednesday, despite an
My Profile
Top News
Reuters top ten news stories delivered to your inbox each day.
Subscribe
You are here:
Home
>
News
>
International
>
Article
Home
Business & Finance
News
U.S.
Politics
International
Technology
Entertainment
Sports
Lifestyle
Oddly Enough
Health
Science
Special Coverage
Video
Pictures
Your View
The Great Debate
Blogs
Weather
Reader Feedback
Do More With Reuters
RSS
Widgets
Mobile
Podcasts
Newsletters
Your View
Make Reuters My Homepage
Partner Services
CareerBuilder
Affiliate Network
Professional Products
Support (Customer Zone)
Reuters Media
Financial Products
About Thomson Reuters
Kuwait foils Qaeda plan to attack oil refinery
Wed Aug 12, 2009 9:18am EDT
Email | Print |
Share
| Reprints | Single Page
[-]
Text
[+]
By Eman Goma
KUWAIT (Reuters) - Detained members of an al Qaeda-linked group planned to attack Kuwait's Shuaiba oil refinery during the holy Muslim month of Ramadan, a security official said on Wednesday.
Kuwait, the world's fourth-largest oil exporter, said on Tuesday it had foiled a plan by the six-member al Qaeda-linked network to bomb the U.S. Army camp of Arifjan, state security headquarters, and "important facilities," but gave no further details on the other potential targets.
"The group planned to attack Shuaiba during Ramadan," the security official told Reuters. Ramadan is due to begin around August 22.
The aging 200,000 barrels per day (bpd) Shuaiba plant is the smallest of the OPEC member's three refineries, which have a combined capacity of around 930,000 bpd.
Al Qaeda, hard hit by government forces across the Arabian Peninsula, appears to be trying to regroup around it Yemeni wing, which announced plans earlier this year to widen the scope of operations to include the rest of the oil-exporting region.
Al Qaeda leaders have for repeatedly called for attacks on oil facilities and Western interests in the Gulf to destabilize U.S.-allied rulers and harm the economies of Western countries by blocking the flow of oil to their industrial economies.
Members of the cell, led by a surgeon at one of the Gulf state's hospitals, had confessed to planning attacks aimed at pressuring the United States to remove Kuwait-based troops, al-Anbaa newspaper reported on Wednesday, citing unidentified sources it said were familiar with the investigation.
Kuwait was the launch pad for the 2003 U.S.-led war on Iraq to oust Saddam Hussein. The U.S. army uses sites in the Arab country as a logistics base to support troops in Iraq. Camp Arifjan is located south of the capital Kuwait.
GOOGLE MAPS
The cell used Google Earth to acquire images of the refinery, the camp and a state security building, Anbaa said.
Al Qaeda has waged attacks in Kuwait in recent years and bombed foreign housing complexes and oil sites in Gulf Arab states including Saudi Arabia, but a crackdown by governments in the region has succeeded in preventing fresh violence.
"This refinery is very well protected," said a Kuwaiti oil official. "There is really no way to approach it by land."
Kuwait bolstered security around Shuaiba in 2005 and tightened measures to protect oil installations in 2007 after top oil exporter and neighbor Saudi Arabia foiled an al Qaeda plot that included plans to attack a major oil facility.
Political analyst Shafiq Ghabra says the planned withdrawal of U.S. troops from Iraq has not discouraged al Qaeda from planning attacks on U.S.-allied Arab countries.
"Their issue is not the withdrawal of the U.S. (troops), it's also their ... regime, the existing elite, the existing ruling families," he told Reuters on Tuesday. Continued...
View article on single page
Share:
Del.icio.us
Digg
Mixx
Yahoo!
Facebook
LinkedIn
Next Article:
Two foreign journalists hurt in Afghan blast
Video
Rise of the Taliban
At this crucial time in the U.S.-led war against the Taliban, GlobalPost reporters recap the current political and counterinsurgency efforts in Afghanistan. Video
Life, death and blowback
Video: Schooled by the Taliban
Full Coverage: Afghanistan and Pakistan
More International News
China urges world to respect Myanmar's sovereignty
| Video
Iran speaker says vote detainees not been raped: TV
Hundreds still missing from Taiwan mudslide
| Video
Kenya says Scottish gems expert killed in dispute
India flu toll rises, warns against hoarding drug
More International News...
Featured Broker sponsored link
Editor's Choice
Slideshow
A selection of our best photos from the past 24 hours. Slideshow
Most Popular on Reuters
Articles
Video
Auto inventories tight, U.S. "clunker" interest slips
Costa Rican president has swine flu
Russia sees U.S. space threat, builds new rocket
Frustrated Russian throws cup at Mona Lisa
Bride spends first night with crate of vodka
U.S. economy has bottomed: George Soros
GE sees tide coming in for water business
Bank of America faces more bonus embarrassment
Rapper C-Murder convicted for 2002 shooting
Democrats release papers on Bush prosecutor firings
Most Popular Articles RSS Feed
Video
Obama tackles healthcare critics
Eunice Kennedy Shriver dies at 88
Taiwan mudslide rescue finds 700
'Pop up' adverts hit London
Outcry over Suu Kyi verdict
Murder for ratings?
GM says Volt gets 230 mpg
Karzai and the Afghan election
Shooting, drug arrests in Mexico
Talking to the Taliban
Most Popular Videos RSS Feed
Your View
Where were you when the Wall came down?
Did you live under the communist regime of East Germany? Sneak across the border to escape to West Berlin? Celebrate the fall of the wall in 1989? Send us your images. Blog
Reuters.com:
Help and Contact Us |
Advertise With Us |
Mobile |
Newsletters |
RSS |
Labs |
Archive |
Site Index |
Video Index
Thomson Reuters Corporate:
Copyright |
Disclaimer |
Privacy |
Professional Products |
Professional Products Support |
About Thomson Reuters |
Careers
International Editions:
Africa |
Arabic |
Argentina |
Brazil |
Canada |
China |
France |
Germany |
India |
Italy |
Japan |
Latin America |
Mexico |
Russia |
Spain |
United Kingdom |
United States
Thomson Reuters is the world's largest international multimedia news agency, providing investing news, world news, business news, technology news, headline news, small business news, news alerts, personal finance, stock market, and mutual funds information available on Reuters.com, video, mobile, and interactive television platforms. Thomson Reuters journalists are subject to an Editorial Handbook which requires fair presentation and disclosure of relevant interests.
NYSE and AMEX quotes delayed by at least 20 minutes. Nasdaq delayed by at least 15 minutes. For a complete list of exchanges and delays, please click here.