An inquiry into an attack on US marines in Kuwait has led to the arrest of 15 people, officials said, adding that their leader, who was gunned down in the fatal shooting, had sworn allegiance to al-Qaeda chief Osama bin Laden. The 15 suspects -- all Kuwaitis -- formed an "organization" that was planning to strike at five other US and foreign targets, Interior Minister Mohammad Khaled al-Sabah said.

"We have referred 15 people ... to the public prosecution" in connection with Tuesday's shooting on Failaka island that left one marine dead and another wounded, he told a news conference.

"We uncovered plans (by the group) to attack five other locations, American and foreign," Sheikh Mohammad said.
"But they (suspects) concluded there was too much security around them."

The minister said that since the attack, "we have stepped up security at American (locations) and schools, as you would at a time like this."

The two Kuwaitis -- Anas Ahmad Ibrahim al-Kandari, 21, and Jassem Hamad Mubarak al-Hajeri, 26 -- who shot the marines were themselves gunned down.

Sheikh Mohammad said Kandari was the leader of the group whose members have been rounded up.

But although Kandari was a follower of bin Laden, there was no evidence that the shooting was carried out at the behest of his al-Qaeda terror network, the Kuwaiti official said.

"We don't have concrete evidence that this operation was ordered by al-Qaeda," he said, "but the emir (leader of the group) swore allegiance to Osama bin Laden.

"But we don't know if he got his orders directly from bin Laden," the minister added.

The US marines were conducting "Eager Mace 2002" exercises on the island, 20 kilometers (12 miles) east of Kuwait City, when Tuesday's attack took place.

The minister said that by midnight Tuesday "we had collected the whole group close to Anas (al-Kandari) and they started confessing on Wednesday."

Asked if there was anything to indicate the group had the capacity to carry out large-scale attacks, Sheikh Mohammad said: "We did not find any evidence they were able to conduct such operations."

He stressed that in the interests of the emirate's security, "we have to make clear that we can't talk about all the details, but yes, there were other ... foreign targets."

The minister also said a "small number" of the 15 suspects were previously arrested. "And after conducting investigations, we found no reason to keep them in custody."

One of the suspects, "the main person that had made the plans, was a sixth year medical student who has never traveled to Afghanistan, Pakistan or Iran, or ever been detained before," said the minister.

Security sources earlier told AFP that Kandari had fought in Afghanistan alongside the Taliban and had returned to the emirate after the September 11 terror attacks on the United States.

A team from the US Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) was due in Kuwait Saturday or Sunday to follow up on investigations into the attack, said Sheikh Mohammad, who doubted they would interrogate the 15 suspects.

"The US did not participate or intervene in the investigations," the minister said, adding that he would not agree to handing over the suspects to Washington.

"The (Kuwaiti) constitution does not allow us to hand them over."

The minister also said an incident which occurred Wednesday, when US forces opened fire on a vehicle whose occupants "drew a weapon and pointed it at" US troops heading to their training area north of Kuwait City, was never officially filed as a complaint.

Some 10,000 US troops are stationed in Kuwait, which was freed from a seven-month Iraqi occupation by a US-led coalition in February 1991

PHOTO CAPTION

Kuwait's Interior Minister Sheik Mohammed Khaled Al Sabah answers questions from journalists at a press conference in the Interior Ministry in Kuwait City, Saturday, Oct. 12, 2002. The Kuwaiti official gave details of the terrorist attack against US troops of last week, and the arrest of 15 alleged terrorists connected to the organization that carried out the attack that left one US Marine dead, another wounded and resulted in the killing of the attackers by US security guards. (AP Photo/Gustavo Ferrari)
- Oct 12 3:50 PM ET