KUWAIT RECAPTURES MEMBERS OF IRAN-BACKED TERROR CELL
▶ Fugitives had been convicted of passing intelligence to Tehran
Twelve convicted members of a terror cell backed by Iran and Hizbollah have been arrested in Kuwait after they fled last month.
The convicts, members of Al Abdali cell that was uncovered in 2015, were captured in different parts of the country, the interior ministry said. Police are still hunting two other men.
The ministry said it would be making a statement about the sentences within days.
The men were among 23 people convicted last year of providing intelligence to Iran and Hizbollah, and stockpiling weapons and ammunition. They were released in February after an appeal but barred from leaving the country.
When the news broke, some members of parliament called for the minister of interior to quit, and for an investigation into authorities’ failure to catch the biggest terrorist cell that has been uncovered in Kuwait.
Parliament held an emergency session on July 20 after the ministry’s revelation and called for “ministers to resign” or face questioning.
News of the cell members’ capture has come as a relief to many in the ministry after reports by Kuwaiti newspapers that the men used “small boats to flee to Iran on an official Iranian vessel that was waiting for them just outside Kuwait’s territorial waters”.
Kuwait filed a complaint to the Lebanese government on July 22, saying that the country “must take the necessary measures to deter Hizbollah’s acts, given that it’s a member of the Lebanese government”.
On Friday, Lebanese foreign minister Jebran Bassil contacted his equal in the Kuwaiti government to follow up on the latest on the Abdali terrorist cell.
The minister has been in
close contact with Kuwaiti officials to help with the hunt for the Hizbollah-backed terror cell members.
Hassan Nasrallah, Hizbollah’s party leader in Lebanon, has since denied his party’s involvement, saying they had no cells operating in Kuwait.
A huge manhunt took place last month, with the interior ministry saying security forces were raiding hideouts throughout the country.
It urged residents to provide any information about the fugitives. Those found not co-operating would face prosecution.
Exactly a year ago today a lower court in Kuwait convicted 23 of 26 suspects linked to the terror cell of crimes including spying for foreign entities, trading in weapons and training with firearms with the intent to commit violence.
Two men were given death sentences that were later reduced to life in prison, while the others were sentenced to between five years and life in jail. The convictions were overturned on appeal several months later.
But the supreme court in June overturned the acquittals of 16 of the accused and sentenced one of them to life, another to 15 years, and the rest to 10 years each.
Their disappearance sparked a downturn in diplomatic relations with Iran and Kuwait asked Tehran to reduce its diplomatic presence in the country.
The foreign ministry froze all co-operation with Tehran.
Iran has denied any links to the cell, but Kuwaiti officials have accused Tehran of trying to interfere in domestic affairs by infiltrating local Shiite communities.