[On Monday, Kuwaiti Defense Minister Jaber Al Mubarak Al Sabah pledged
that the sheikdom would not be used for a U.S. attack on Iran, Middle East Newsline reported. Mubarak said
the United States has not made such a request.]
The Kuwaiti daily Al Qabas said authorities have been under orders not
to publicize the arrest of Americans. The newspaper, quoting security
sources, said every detainee was allowed to call the U.S. embassy to request
an attorney.
"He [the American] will be treated well," Al Qabas said. "Policemen will
apologize for arresting him, and the American criminal will be allowed to
call his embassy to ask for an attorney who will exert great efforts to
prove that policemen were the ones who committed a mistake rather than the
American expatriate."
Security sources reported a sharp increase in crime by Americans. They
said the offenses focused on drug dealing and alcohol sales.
"Such crimes are [also] committed by sons of the Bangladeshi community,"
Al Qabas said. "But Bangladeshi expatriates will be raided by police swiftly
and continuously, while Americans establish such parties. A lot of people
know that these parties are managed by Americans who endanger social
and security conditions."
Security sources said the U.S. embassy has been informed of the spike in
American crime in Kuwait, deemed a major non-NATO ally of Washington. On
April 24, the U.S. embassy issued a warning that Americans would be subject
to the Kuwaiti penal code.
"The embassy cannot intervene to free Americans who have been arrested,
nor can it represent Americans at trial, give legal advice or pay legal fees
and/or fines with U.S. government funds," the embassy said in a warden
message.
The Kuwaiti sources said several Americans were arrested over the last
year in connection with alcohol or drugs. In early 2007, one American was
arrested with dozens of bottles of whiskey and a firearm.
