Kuwait Frees 2 of 17 Terrorists Held in ’83 Bombings
Kuwait’s government revealed Saturday that it had freed two of the 17 convicted terrorists whose liberty has been sought by pro-Iranian extremists holding Western hostages in Lebanon.
Interior Minister Salim Sabah said the two men, Abdul-Mohsen Rashash Abbas, 25, and Nasser Matar Dahash, 30, were released “a while ago” after they completed five-year prison terms for their parts in the December, 1983, bombings of the American and French embassies in Kuwait.
Sabah said the release of the men, who were deported to undisclosed destinations, “has nothing to do with the demands of extremist organizations.”
Abbas was identified as an Iraqi national, and Dahash as a Kuwaiti.
Sixteen Westerners, including nine Americans, are being held hostage in Lebanon. The longest held is Terry A. Anderson, 41, chief Middle East correspondent for the Associated Press. He and Thomas Sutherland, 57, acting dean of agriculture at the American University of Beirut, were kidnaped by Islamic Jihad, a pro-Iranian extremist group that has frequently demanded the release of the Kuwait 17.
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