KUWAIT CITY, Jan. 30 (UPI) -- Kuwaiti security forces seized weapons and ammunitions they said belonged to al Qaida sympathizers in the country's southern region, the Rai al Am newspaper reported Thursday.
The newspaper quoted unnamed Kuwaiti sources as saying state security forces stormed locations in the regions of Wafra and Bayan in southern Kuwait, and recovered arms caches. Large quantities of rocket-propelled grenades, Kalashnikov rifles, hand grenades and ammunitions were seized, the report said.
The newspaper's sources said the confiscated weapons were believed to belong to al Qaida sympathizers who "have a sabotage plan to be carried out once the air strikes on Iraq begin."
The United States has said it will use force if necessary to disarm Iraqi leader Saddam Hussein of his suspected weapons of mass destruction.
The operation comes less than 10 days after one American was shot dead and another wounded in Kuwait City by members of a group who said they were part of al Qaida. A gunman, who was later arrested, opened fire at their car Jan. 21 on a road leading to the main base of U.S. forces in Kuwait. There are some 15,000 U.S. troops in the country ahead of a possible U.S.-led war on Iraq.
A previously unknown group, Dawa and Jihad, claimed responsibility. It said it was linked to Osama bin Laden's al Qaida network, blamed for the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks on New York and Washington.
