Manama: Two Iraqi brothers involved in a crime that had shocked Kuwait to the core last week have surrendered, the police said.
Jaber Yousuf, a dentist born to a Kuwaiti mother and a Lebanese father, was killed by four friends at the Avenues, Kuwait’s largest shopping malls following an altercation in the parking lot.
Reports said that Jaber, his brother and two friends had a verbal argument over traffic priorities with four people riding in another car. But, the argument was over for Jaber and his companions when they entered the mall and went to a coffee shop.
However, for the other four young men — the two Iraqi brothers, a Saudi national and a Bidoon (stateless) — involved in the parking lot quarrel, it appeared the verbal fight had to continue until the score was settled through violent means.
They allegedly took knives from a shop at the mall and walked up to the four friends and resumed the dispute.
The stateless youth, 22, reportedly took out a knife he hid under his clothes and stabbed the dentist to death. They also wounded two other people before fleeing.
A massive manhunt was launched by the police and the stateless man was arrested in his hideout in a desert area.
Confession
Reports in Kuwait City said that he confessed the crime and gave out the names of his friends. The Saudi national was arrested later.
The hunt for the two Iraqi accomplices took five days as security officers monitored all areas where they could possibly go, local Arabic daily Al Watan reported on Thursday.
A source told the newspaper that the police summoned a girlfriend of one of the brothers as part of their investigation.
“The brothers eventually understood that they could not hide anymore and surrendered,” the source said.
The crime in one of the most open and public places in Kuwait sent shock waves through the community and triggered a wave of sympathy with the family and a string of condemnation from lawmakers and former political figures.
Several MPs said that they would take up the issue of violence in parliament to push for more stringent laws and for the full application of the law.
In their statements, lawmakers said that they would grill any minister who attempted to intercede on behalf of the suspects to have their court sentences reduced or to have them released from police custody.
