Kuwait warns of attacks on U.S. schools, military


WASHINGTON (CNN) -- Firm evidence has been found that Sunday's explosion of a French oil tanker off the coast of Yemen was an act of terrorism, U.S. and French investigators said Thursday.

U.S. military sources cited TNT residue, fiberglass and small marine engine parts found in the wreckage by French inspectors, who examined the Limburg externally and internally.

A senior Pentagon official said a local newspaper in Yemen received a communication from an Islamic group claiming responsibility for the attack. It is not known if the group had direct ties to the al Qaeda terrorist network.

French Foreign Ministry spokesman Francois Rivasseau said the ministry had directed all French diplomatic missions in the region to take all necessary steps to avoid risk.

The Pentagon official said officers from the Naval Criminal Investigative Service visited the ship Thursday and their preliminary report indicated the source of the explosion was outside the ship. The French inspectors concurred, according to the French Foreign Ministry.

French officials initially compared the tanker blast to the October 2000 suicide attack in Yemen's Port of Aden on the USS Cole that killed 17 American sailors. In that attack, a boat pulled alongside the U.S. warship and detonated explosives that ripped a huge hole in the ship.

A junior officer aboard the French tanker reported a boat quickly approaching shortly before that explosion, said a spokesman for the ship's operator, France Shipmanagement.

U.S. officials believe al Qaeda leader Osama bin Laden was behind the Cole suicide bombing.

Last month, the U.S. Navy warned of possible attacks on oil tankers in the Persian Gulf area by al Qaeda. On September 10, a U.S. shipping company in Bahrain said measures should be taken to protect Western tankers in North Africa, the Red Sea and the Persian Gulf.

Yemen, trying to shake off its reputation as a haven for Islamic militants, has arrested more than 100 suspected members of al Qaeda and other Islamist groups since the September 11 attacks last year.

The Arab state is bin Laden's ancestral home, and many Yemenis have been arrested abroad as suspected al Qaeda members

Meanwhile, the Kuwaiti Ministry of Interior has told the U.S. government it believes American school teachers and their schools in Kuwait are targeted for terrorist attacks, as well as U.S. military and diplomatic installations, senior military officials said Thursday.

Pentagon officials said they had been warned by Kuwaitis investigating Tuesday's attack that killed a U.S. Marine training on a Kuwaiti island -- blamed on two gunmen with ties to al Qaeda -- that another attack, this one on a "multi-story" target, could be in the works.

An independent Kuwaiti newspaper reported the investigators had uncovered diagrams and plans for an attack, possibly against an embassy facility or a school.

U.S. officials have grown increasingly concerned about terror attacks against U.S. interests after the release of a taped statement Tuesday believed to be from Osama bin Laden's top lieutenant and al Qaeda strategist, Ayman al-Zawahiri, who warned of fresh attacks.

Senior officials in the U.S. intelligence community also are concerned about the current high level of "chatter" and communications between suspected al Qaeda members.

Senior-level detainees in the war against terrorism also have told U.S. officials that the al-Zawahiri tape would never have been released if there wasn't already another attack planned, the officials said.

The State Department issued a new "worldwide caution" Thursday warning Americans abroad to be on alert for a possible attack by the al Qaeda terrorist network.

Meanwhile, a third incident in three days involving U.S. forces training in Kuwait put both Kuwaitis and American troops on edge Thursday in the tiny oil nation tucked between Iraq and Saudi Arabia on the Persian Gulf.

Three Marines participating in Operation Eager Mace Thursday were injured when they walked or drove over an unexploded piece of ordnance while setting up a firing range.

Pentagon officials termed the incident an accident and said the three were not seriously injured. Two were taken to Armed Forces Hospital in Kuwait City while the third was taken to Doha military hospital in Kuwait.

The incident came two days after an attack killed one U.S. Marine and injured another while they participating Tuesday in a training operation called "Eager Mace" on the island of Failaka, off Kuwait's coast. The two gunmen pulled up alongside the Marines and opened fire; they were killed by military police as they fled the scene.

Eager Mace was delayed for a day, and the Marines on Failaka were believed to have withdrawn to Al Udiari. The exercise is scheduled to end October 15

Officials said the Kuwaiti government investigation into the incident had brought hundreds of people into custody for questioning -- including four suspects -- and the investigation was continuing.

Thursday's apparently accidental explosion on the firing range occurred as Marines of the 11th Marine Expeditionary Unit were completing the final training objectives of the Eager Mace exercise before returning to their ships this weekend, according to a Pentagon official.

Wednesday, two soldiers from Camp Doha traveling in a Humvee said they were approached by a civilian vehicle. An occupant of that vehicle threatened them with a weapon, the soldiers said. One of the soldiers fired a single shot, and the civilian vehicle was last seen careening off the road. They did not stop to investigate.

Later, two occupants of the vehicle told investigators they had only a cell phone when they approached the Humvee.

In other developments:


The House of Representatives voted to give President Bush authority to go to war to disarm Iraq. The measure authorizes him to use U.S. troops to enforce U.N. Security Council resolutions requiring Iraq to give up weapons of mass destruction. (Full story)


Enaam Arnaout, executive director of the Benevolence International Foundation, based near Chicago, will be arraigned next week on charges of funneling money to al Qaeda and other terrorist organizations. (Full story)

CNN Correspondent Martin Savidge, Producer Hugh Williams, Pentagon Correspondent Barbara Starr and Pentagon Producer Mike Mount contributed to this report

Very sad situation! When will it end!?

SkletonKee said:

It figures. Not surprised.

So are the French going to fall into line now, or are they going to still be a constant thorn in our side on this Iraq thing?

"Thorn in our side"? For disagreeing with our foreign policy? Iraq's military isn't half of what it was in the Gulf War and they haven't revealed a shread of evidence supporting Bush Administration's accusations that Iraq has nuclear and bio-chemical weapons.

Americans have become blood thirsty ever since Afghanistan and Iraq seems to be next on our list of easy wins.
And who's to say we'll stop there...what about Iran, North Korea, Cuba, China? Many of these countries have larger militaries than Iraq, and some have nuclear weapons. By Bush's logic, don't they pose a threat to the US?

When Bush pisses off the Arab/Muslim world and we slowly become public enemy to the world at large, we only have ourselves to blame, and not France.

Nep2nes said:

well, the US government sure was surpised...after all they were calling this an electrical malfunction... the idiots...

http://www.cagle.com/

(click on W in a cowboy hat) Happy Friday!!

mrchristian said:

Sure, fine, whatever. All I know is that when Saddam launches his nuclear/biological weapons, France is gonna start shitting bricks a lot sooner than we are.

AaronForever said:

Dem poor Frenchie's won't know what hit 'em, ayy? We bailed 'em out in 41, and we'll do it again. God damn ingrates! Great statues, lousy toast.

mrchristian said:

you said it, brother

Well, my answer is in my signature...