Britain Goes on Alert as Egyptian Goes on Trial

October 16, 2003

LONDON - Britain has declared an alert for an Islamic insurgency attack in Kuwait.

British officials said the intelligence community has obtained information that warns of an emerging plot by Al Qaida or related groups to attack British and other Western nationals. The officials said the plot could include an attack on British military and defense personnel in the sheikdom.

On Tuesday, the British embassy in Kuwait urged nationals to increase their awareness and exercise caution. The embassy said British nationals must maintain the highest level of alert.

Kuwait contains what the embassy termed terrorist threat. The embassy statement did not elaborate.

Officials said the alert was connected to the trial of an Egyptian charged with shooting U.S. soldiers in Kuwait in late 2002. The Egyptian was believed to have operated for an Al Qaida-aligned insurgency cell.

U.S. forces in Kuwait underwent a series of Islamic insurgency attacks in late 2002 and early 2003. No attacks have been reported since the U.S.-led war in Iraq in March.

Over the last week, posters have been found throughout Baghdad and Iraqi cities that warn of attacks on U.S. and other coalition forces. Officials said the coalition has been concerned that any such attack could also target Westerners in Kuwait.

In an unrelated development, Bahrain has denied a report that an air force pilot who went missing in the Persian Gulf earlier this month defected to Iran with his F-16 multi-role fighter. The report was published in the Kuwaiti daily Al Qabas, which discounted Bahraini reports that the F-16 crashed north of Bahrain. No trace was found of the F-16 or the pilot.

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