grenade attack injures 10 u.s. troops in kuwait , page-5

are the yanks stark raving mad?
It's one thing having a Muslim serving in the armed forces - but sending him to the Gulf!!!!




Reuters
Saterday, March 22, 2003; 9:39 PM


KUWAIT (Reuters) - A grenade attack wounded 13 American soldiers in a command tent in Kuwait early on Sunday, the U.S. military said, and broadcast reports said another U.S. soldier was being questioned about the incident.

U.S. Central Command, which is running the war on Iraq, said in a statement that one or more unknown assailants had "attacked elements of the 101st Airborne Division at Camp Pennsylvania, Kuwait" at around 1:30 a.m.

"The area has been secured and an investigation is under way to determine the circumstances of the attack," it added.

Charles Clover, a correspondent for the London Financial Times who is with the 101st Airborne Division, said a soldier was being questioned about the attack. He told CNN by telephone that journalists with the division were restricted in what they could report of the incident.

*****Fox News said the soldier being questioned was a Muslim American and that he had been described as "acting strange" before attack.*****

The network also reported that the attack was under investigation by the U.S. Army Criminal Investigative Command.

A spokesman for the 101st said two grenades had been thrown into a command tent at Camp Pennsylvania, one of the desert bases from where U.S. forces have launched an invasion to try to overthrow Iraqi President Saddam Hussein.

Col. Chris Holden, head of a battalion of the 101st Airborne Division at nearby Camp New York, said he had stepped up patrols around his unit after the attack.

"When you have someone inside your camp who is dedicated to throwing a grenade inside a tent, there isn't much you can do," Holden told Reuters. Central Command said the wounded had been evacuated to a field hospital.

Initial media reports spoke of a possible "terrorist attack."

Thousands of U.S. troops have been based in Kuwait since the end of the 1991 Gulf War. They have been targeted several times in recent months by militants whom Kuwaiti authorities say may have links to Osama bin Laden's al Qaeda network.

Kuwait is a key U.S. ally and its government is publicly grateful to Washington for leading the 1991 war that drove out occupying Iraqi troops from the oil-rich country, but there have been concerns of rising anti-American sentiment.

Last week, the U.S. embassy in Kuwait told American civilians in the country to leave immediately, advice taken up by several other embassies. Diplomats said the warnings were prompted by fears that Muslim militants angered by the war with Iraq could target Westerners in Kuwait.