A clandestine Islamist group that claimed responsibility for last week’s attack on Americans in Kuwait vowed to carry out more operations to ‘‘liberate Kuwait from colonialism,’’ a pan-Arab newspaper reported on Wednesday. The London-based Asharq Al-Awsat said a man who identified himself as leader of the ‘‘Daa’wa and Jihad’’ group disclosed that his organisation was affiliated to Osama bin Laden. ‘‘We are fighting to get the infidels out of Arabian Peninsula, to liberate Kuwait from colonialism, to liberate our prisoners in Cuba, and in support of our brothers in Iraq, Afghanistan and Palestine,’’ said the man who identified himself as Abu Osama al-Kuwaiti. Kuwait, where thousands of US troops are assembling for a possible invasion of Iraq, has witnessed a string of isolated attacks against US Forces. ‘‘We took the initiative to unify these efforts under the name of Daa’wa and Jihad and we carried out attacks against the enemy’s equipment,’’ he added. Asked if his group was linked to bin Laden, Al-Kuwaiti said: ‘‘Yes. We consider Sheikh Osama bin Laden as our leader and we are careful to work under all the directives issued by the Sheikh to the youths of the Islamic nation.’’ In last Tuesday’s attack near a military base in northern Kuwait, gunmen shot dead Michael Rene Pouliot and injured his colleague David Caraway. Police have said Kuwaiti Sami al-Mutairi, confessed to the killing. Kuwaiti denied that Mutairi was involved in the ambush and said it was the work of another member of the group called Abu Hadhifa al-Kuwaiti. He said his group would also target Kuwaiti officials who might try to obstruct them.
