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CNN Live Today
Pentagon Marine Attack Linked to Al Qaeda
Aired October 09, 2002 - 11:19 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
DARYN KAGAN, CNN ANCHOR: Officials at the Pentagon say they now think that an attack in Kuwait that killed a U.S. Marine is connected to Al Qaeda.
Our Pentagon correspondent Barbara Starr is tracking that story, and she has details live from the pentagon now.
Barbara, hello.
BARBARA STARR, CNN PENTAGON CORRESPONDENT: Hello to you, Daryn.
Well, after a lot of caution here yesterday, officials say, indeed, they now do believe the attack on U.S. Marines in Kuwait yesterday was linked to Al Qaeda, but they're not certain whether the attack was actually ordered by Al Qaeda leadership.
Now, as you'll remember, Marines came attack on Failaka Island, off the coast of Kuwait, about 1,000 Marines conducting an exercise there. A small group of marines was approached in men in civilian clothes in a pickup truck. Those unknown assailants opened fire, killing one Marine, wounding another, before they were killed by U.S. troops, nearby U.S. security troops.
Now, today, officials say they believe those two assailants were Kuwaitis who had previously been to Afghanistan, had been in Al Qaeda training camps. The men also have relatives, it is believed, who are currently detainees being held by the United States at Guantanamo Bay, as suspected Al Qaeda.
They are not sure, however, about how extensive the plot was. There are two other people said to be held in custody by the Kuwaiti ministry of the interior and one other person still at large being looked for.
Immediately after the attack, about 30 civilians in the immediate area were taken into custody, are being questioned. It is not clear what that many civilians were doing in the area of a U.S. military exercise.
So what officials say is, it all adds up to a connection to the Al Qaeda. What they don't know is whether or not this attack was ordered by Al Qaeda leadership or may simply have been an independent operation by an Al Qaeda cell in Kuwait. That would be something very significant if they're now seeing specific other Al Qaeda operations being directed at U.S. military -- Daryn.
KAGAN: Barbara, another story I want to ask you about, this attack on this French tanker in Yemen. Anything new on that story?
STARR: That one is still unresolved in the minds of the U.S. military. They're still looking at that very closely. Naval investigative agents are on their way to Yemen, hoping to get access to some of the investigative material. They have a suspicion that it's terrorism of some sort, because there had been threats against commercial shipping in those waters, but at the moment, they have nothing specific, they tell us, to tie it to any terrorist attack -- Daryn.
KAGAN: Barbara Starr at the Pentagon. Barbara, thank you.
TO ORDER A VIDEO OF THIS TRANSCRIPT, PLEASE CALL 800-CNN-NEWS OR USE OUR SECURE ONLINE ORDER FORM LOCATED AT www.fdch.com
Aired October 9, 2002 - 11:19 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
DARYN KAGAN, CNN ANCHOR: Officials at the Pentagon say they now think that an attack in Kuwait that killed a U.S. Marine is connected to Al Qaeda.
Our Pentagon correspondent Barbara Starr is tracking that story, and she has details live from the pentagon now.
Barbara, hello.
BARBARA STARR, CNN PENTAGON CORRESPONDENT: Hello to you, Daryn.
Well, after a lot of caution here yesterday, officials say, indeed, they now do believe the attack on U.S. Marines in Kuwait yesterday was linked to Al Qaeda, but they're not certain whether the attack was actually ordered by Al Qaeda leadership.
Now, as you'll remember, Marines came attack on Failaka Island, off the coast of Kuwait, about 1,000 Marines conducting an exercise there. A small group of marines was approached in men in civilian clothes in a pickup truck. Those unknown assailants opened fire, killing one Marine, wounding another, before they were killed by U.S. troops, nearby U.S. security troops.
Now, today, officials say they believe those two assailants were Kuwaitis who had previously been to Afghanistan, had been in Al Qaeda training camps. The men also have relatives, it is believed, who are currently detainees being held by the United States at Guantanamo Bay, as suspected Al Qaeda.
They are not sure, however, about how extensive the plot was. There are two other people said to be held in custody by the Kuwaiti ministry of the interior and one other person still at large being looked for.
Immediately after the attack, about 30 civilians in the immediate area were taken into custody, are being questioned. It is not clear what that many civilians were doing in the area of a U.S. military exercise.
So what officials say is, it all adds up to a connection to the Al Qaeda. What they don't know is whether or not this attack was ordered by Al Qaeda leadership or may simply have been an independent operation by an Al Qaeda cell in Kuwait. That would be something very significant if they're now seeing specific other Al Qaeda operations being directed at U.S. military -- Daryn.
KAGAN: Barbara, another story I want to ask you about, this attack on this French tanker in Yemen. Anything new on that story?
STARR: That one is still unresolved in the minds of the U.S. military. They're still looking at that very closely. Naval investigative agents are on their way to Yemen, hoping to get access to some of the investigative material. They have a suspicion that it's terrorism of some sort, because there had been threats against commercial shipping in those waters, but at the moment, they have nothing specific, they tell us, to tie it to any terrorist attack -- Daryn.
KAGAN: Barbara Starr at the Pentagon. Barbara, thank you.
TO ORDER A VIDEO OF THIS TRANSCRIPT, PLEASE CALL 800-CNN-NEWS OR USE OUR SECURE ONLINE ORDER FORM LOCATED AT www.fdch.com
