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Tuesday, March 25, 2008       Free Headline Alerts

Threats reported at Kuwait sites frequented by Americans; Bomb with note at school

ABU DHABI — A flurry of bomb threats caused the United States to issue an alert to Americans in Kuwait.

On March 6, Kuwaiti police found a bomb at an elementary school in Kuwait City. The improvised explosive device contained a note that warned of future attacks.

The U.S. embassy has urged Americans to increase vigilance of the prospect of insurgency strikes in Kuwait amid heightened Shi'ite unrest. The embassy reported both genuine and false bomb threats in the Gulf Cooperation Council state in March.

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"All Americans should maintain a heightened state of awareness during the next several weeks, due to the fact that an explosive device was found at a school and because of several recent bomb threats at popular locations in Kuwait," the embassy said in a March 12 warden message.

The embassy has been working with Kuwaiti authorities in the investigation of the bomb threat. The American University of Kuwait as well as a major shopping mall were also the target of bomb threats.

About 15,000 U.S. soldiers were said to be based in Kuwait, the largest American military presence in the Middle East outside of Iraq. Kuwait has been struggling with threats from both Al Qaida as well as Iranian-backed Shi'ite agitators.

"Make sure to follow instructions if ordered to evacuate a building and make sure you know where exits are located in any building you visit," the warden message said.

The message urged Americans not to touch suspicious devices and immediately notify the police and embassy. Americans should also carry a "small flashlight in case the power is not working in a building that receives a bomb threat."

Eight leading Shi'ites have been arrested in the Kuwaiti crackdown, sparked by a memorial for slain Hizbullah operational chief Imad Mughniyeh in February. Some of the Shi'ites were charged with seeking to topple the Sunni regime.

"What is happening in Kuwait is a clear threat [to show] what Iran can do through its parties and followers if Kuwait became a springboard for the [U.S.] military strike against Iran," Nabil Al Fadhl, a pro-government analyst, wrote in the Kuwaiti daily Al Watan.



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