Kuwaiti police officials have arrested a top member of the al-Qaeda network, who was helping to plan a car bomb attack on a Yemeni hotel frequented by Americans, Al Anba newspaper reported.
Police arrested a Kuwaiti, aged 21, identified by the initials "M.F." two weeks ago, the Kuwaiti daily reported in its Saturday edition.
According to Al-Anba, the arrested Kuwaiti told police that a Yemeni national identified as Osama al-Yemeni was set to drive a bomb-wired car into an unidentified hotel in the capital of San'aa.
In addition, the Kuwaiti told police he had collected a sum of $127,000 to finance the operation, the daily stated.
Kuwaiti officials, for their part, have informed American, Saudi and French authorities of the arrest and the alleged confessions, which helped foil the attack, the report said.
The newspaper report, in addition, said the Kuwaiti provided police authorities with details about last month's attack on the French oil tanker Limburg off the Yemeni coast.
According to Al-Anba, the Kuwaiti identified two men involved in the tanker attack as 23-year-old Yemeni named Shehab, whose family name was not provided, and Abu Assam al-Makki, whose nationality was not provided. (Albawaba.com)
© 2002 Al Bawaba (www.albawaba.com)
