Kuwait Leader Escapes Bomb Attack; 4 Die

The ruler of the small, oil-rich Persian Gulf state of Kuwait narrowly escaped an assassination attempt Saturday when a terrorist drove a bomb-laden car into a motorcade and set off a massive explosion.

The blast killed two security guards at the head of the motorcade and a pedestrian, as well as the terrorist. At least 11 people were injured in the bombing, which took place in front of a gas station near Kuwait’s Sief Palace.

The 58-year-old emir of Kuwait, Sheik Jabber al Ahmed al Sabah, suffered facial bruises and minor cuts from flying glass.

‘Will Not Dissuade Me’

“The criminal incident this morning will not dissuade me and Kuwait from marching on the road to prosperity,” the emir said in a statement after being treated and released from a nearby hospital. Jabber, who has ruled Kuwait since 1977, later appeared on television to reassure his people that he had survived the blast.

In Beirut, an anonymous telephone caller claimed responsibility for the attack in the name of Islamic Jihad (Islamic Holy War), a shadowy terrorist organization.

The caller demanded the release of 17 people being held in Kuwaiti jails in connection with suicide car bomb attacks in December, 1983, against the U.S. and French embassies in Kuwait as well as on several Kuwaiti government installations.

“We once more demand the release of the detainees; otherwise all the thrones in the (Persian) Gulf will be shaken,” the caller told news agencies in Beirut. “We hope his royal highness has received the message.”

Callers claiming to speak for Islamic Jihad have taken responsibility for bombing attacks on U.S. Embassy installations in Beirut in 1983 and 1984, as well as the suicide bombing that killed 241 American servicemen at the U.S. Marine barracks at Beirut airport in October, 1983.

Saturday’s bombing appeared to be part of a campaign that has intensified in the past two weeks to force the release of the prisoners jailed in Kuwait.

Among the 17 prisoners, three have been sentenced to death. The group consists primarily of Iraqis who are believed to belong to Al Dawaa, an Iranian-backed Shia Muslim organization whose primary aim is to overthrow the government of Saddam Hussein, the Iraqi president. Hussein is a Sunni Muslim.

Nearly a third of Kuwait’s 1.7 million population is Shia Muslim, in common with Iran and the Al Dawaa group. However, Kuwait and Iraq share a common border.

The Islamic Jihad group has only recently publicly acknowledged that it is holding four Americans and two Frenchmen who were abducted in Beirut within the last 14 months so that they could be exchanged for the prisoners in Kuwait.

Firm Warning Issued

Recently, the kidnapers released snapshots of the hostages, which suggested that they had suffered recent privations. Islamic Jihad warned that a “catastrophe” would befall the hostages unless the prisoners in Kuwait were released.

Reports last week in the Arab press said that negotiations aimed at winning release of the hostages in exchange for the Kuwaiti prisoners were nearing completion, but the reports were immediately denied.

However, a Saudi Arabian diplomat kidnaped last year was released last week, leading to speculation that the kidnapers may be tiring of holding foreigners hostage.

In December, 1984, four gunmen believed to be members of Al Dawaa hijacked a Kuwaiti airbus to Iran, demanding the release of 17 prisoners being held in Kuwaiti jails. The hijackers killed two American employees of the U.S. Agency for International Development who were passengers on the plane before Iranian security agents stormed the aircraft.

A large number of Shias who were living in Kuwait but were not Kuwaiti nationals have been deported in recent months as Kuwait’s security services attempt to reduce potential breeding grounds for terrorism.