Widespread attacks reported on Westerners in Gulf states
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SPECIAL TO WORLD TRIBUNE.COM
Saturday, October 13, 2001
ABU DHABI Ñ Westerners are coming under increasing attack in Gulf
Arab states.
Attacks on Westerners have been reported in Kuwait and Saudi Arabia. In
Kuwait, a Canadian national employed by the U.S. defense firm DynCorp was killed in a drive-by shooting. The victim
was identified as Luc Ethier, 36, shot three times on the outskirts
of Kuwait City.
In Doha, a U.S. national was killed in mysterious circumstances, Middle East Newsline reported. The
American was an employee of the U.S. military in Qatar.
Attacks on Westerners were also reported in Saudi Arabia. A firebomb was
hurled at a German couple on Tuesday. The two escaped harm.
Last week, a U.S. national was killed in a bombing in Riyad.
The Saudi kingdom
has refused to participate in the military offensive against Afghan's ruling
Taliban movement.
Diplomats said embassies have warned Western nationals to stay indoors
and avoid crowds or Islamic sites. They said Ethier could have been killed
by Islamic militants aligned with Saudi fugitive Osama Bin
Laden.
Ethier's wife, who was wounded in the shooting, said a man with a rifle
shouted "God is great" as he opened fire on late Wednesday. Ethier was an
aircraft engineer who worked at Kuwait's
Ahmed Al Jaber air
base.
Most residents of GCC countries are foreigners. Sixty-five percent of
Kuwait's population are foreigners, most of them from Asia.
Americans are believed to be the most vulnerable to Islamic attack and
the FBI has warned of attacks throughout the world. About 8,000 Americans,
many of them linked to the U.S. military, reside in Kuwait.
"We urge American citizens to limit their movements, maintain a low
profile and remain alert to their surroundings," the U.S. Embassy in Kuwait
said in a statement.
On Thursday, the Saudi-owned A-Sharq Al Awsat daily reported that the
Saudi leadership had refused to host British Prime Minister Tony
Blair, who is touring the Middle East. "This was because the Saudi
leadership was sensitive about its role and position in both the Arab and
Islamic world," the newspaper said.
Bahrain has also denied any involvement in the U.S.-led attack. "Reports
that strikes on Taliban positions in Afghanistan were coming from the
territorial waters of Bahrain are not true," the Bahraini military command
said. "No warships participating in the bombing operations are stationed in
the territorial waters of Bahrain."
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