Two Kuwaitis convicted, five freed in Marine attack case

A criminal court yesterday sentenced two Kuwaitis to five years and a third to a four-year term on charges of joining an "illegal" organisation and for involvement in the killing of a US Marine here.

The court acquitted five others, but fined two men for 2,000 and 5,000 Kuwaiti dinars, respectively. It also placed a minor under probation for two years and reserved its judgement on a 12th man.

The 12 men were arrested in October 2002 following the shooting attack on US troops who were conducting military exercises on the Failaka Island, some 20km off Kuwait coast.

One US Marine was killed and another was wounded in the October 8 , 2002 attack, while the two Kuwaiti assailants were also killed in the shootout.

The 12 suspects were initially charged with joining Osama bin Laden's Al Qaida network, plotting to kill American soldiers and possessing weapons and ammunition without a licence.

The verdict is not final as it can be challenged in the court of appeals and then in the court of cassation, the highest Kuwaiti court in the country's three-tier judicial system.

All the defends had pleaded not guilty to the charges in court hearings that spanned over 18 months and the court freed them on bail pending a verdict.

According to the court order, Suleiman Jamal Al Kandari and Ahmad Assad Al Kandari were sentenced to five years in jail after they were convicted of joining an illegal group and possessing of weapons and ammunition without a licence. Ahmad Mohammad Al Kandari was jailed for four years on the charge of joining a banned group.

The three will not, however, be jailed immediately and they were asked to pay 500 Kuwaiti dinars ($1,700) each to suspend the sentence pending further trial in the high courts.

Ghazi Al Tarrah was fined 5,000 dinars ($17,000) while Ahmad Jamal Al Kandari was fined 2,000 dinars ($6,800) for possessing illegal arms and attempting to sell them.

Minor Ibrahim Hussein Al Kandari was placed under a two-year probation for the same charge.

Adnan Assad Al Kandari, Abdullah Fahd Al Kandari, Yousef Ahmad Al Kandari, Mustafa Sarab and Saad Al Saeed were all acquitted.

The court stopped from issuing any sentence on Dhawi Saleh Al Enezi but asked him to pay 100 dinars and keep good conduct for two years.

The attack took place as the US forces were preparing for the possible invasion of Iraq which began in March 2003 and led to the overthrow of former president Saddam Hussain.

Tens of thousands of US and British troops had amassed in Kuwait just ahead of the Iraq war and were the target of several attacks and shootings that resulted in casualties.

The same court on Monday sentenced Egyptian Lutfi Al Barbari for five years in jail after convicting him of attempting to kill 13 US soldiers at a desert military camp at the height of the US-led war on Iraq. Barbari, who had been in jail since his arrest in March last year, was shot in the chest by US soldiers and his lawyers claimed that he was shot before he rammed his truck into a group of US soldiers.

The October 8, 2002, attack by two extremists was the first on American forces in this Gulf country, which has been a major ally of Washington.

The attack stunned Kuwaitis, many of whom remain supportive of the United States despite widespread anti-American sentiment in the region. Those convicted yesterday must pay the fines immediately and have 30 days to file appeals. They would be free during the appeals process, beginning to serve their sentences only if and when the convictions and sentences were upheld.

Abdul-Majid Khraibet, lawyer for two of the defendants – one who received the steepest fine and the other acquitted – said his client who was fined would appeal the verdict and that he believed the others who were convicted would also challenge the verdict.

– The author is an Arab journalist based in Kuwait