Marines fire at armed Kuwaiti civilians

<table><tr><td>WASHINGTON -- For the second time in two days, U.S. military personnel shot at armed civilians in Kuwait, military sources told CNN on Wednesday. <br><br>In the latest incident, Kuwaiti

Wednesday, October 9th 2002, 12:00 am

By: News On 6

WASHINGTON -- For the second time in two days, U.S. military personnel shot at armed civilians in Kuwait, military sources told CNN on Wednesday.

In the latest incident, Kuwaiti civilians overtook a U.S. military Humvee outside Kuwait City and pointed a weapon at the military personnel, who then fired into the civilian vehicle, according to the sources.

The U.S. military personnel were uninjured and returned to their base, sources said. Those personnel reported that after the gunfire, they saw the civilian vehicle careening off the road.

Also Wednesday, Pentagon officials said they believe the al Qaeda terror network was connected to Tuesday's attack in Kuwait that left a U.S. Marine dead and another wounded, and Kuwaiti security officials said the attack may have come in response to messages from al Qaeda leaders.

The Pentagon officials said they did not know if the leadership of al Qaeda ordered the attack or if it was the work of an independent al Qaeda cell, but Kuwaiti security officials told CNN they believe the attack may have been the "first response" to taped messages from al Qaeda leaders that have come to light in recent days.

The latest of those taped messages, which surfaced Tuesday, is purported to be the voice of Osama bin Laden's No. 2 man, Ayman al-Zawahiri. In it, al-Zawahiri vows new attacks on Americans. U.S. officials tell CNN the "operating presumption " is that it's al-Zawahiri. (Full story)

The tape has several dated references which they say makes it no older than three months. They say it was probably taped in July, which makes it newer than the recent Bin Laden tape.

After the attack, almost 200 people were taken into custody, and Kuwaiti officials said as many as 30 of those -- whom they described as Kuwaiti fundamentalists -- had admitted going to Pakistan or Afghanistan for training.

Photo of Anas Al-Kandari, who was killed by security forces after he shot at two U.S. Marines.

The two Kuwaiti assailants, who were killed after the attack on the Marines Tuesday, also had been in Afghanistan, where they were trained in al Qaeda training camps, the Pentagon said.

The two are also believed to have relatives who are being held by the United States at the U.S. military base at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba.

At the White House, spokesman Ari Fleischer said the Bush administration is concerned that al Qaeda is involved.

"We are in the process of gathering all the information that we can gather about this," said Fleischer. "It is a concern about whether or not there are connections between those who shot Marines and al Qaeda and we do not rule that out."

Two gunmen opened fire around midday Tuesday on 150 Marines of the 11th Marine Expeditionary Unit who were conducting urban assault training on Failaka Island as part of an annual training exercise called "Eager Mace," U.S. officials said.

The Marines were participating in a non-live-fire exercise -- meaning they didn't have ammunition -- at the time of the attack.

The two assailants were chased down and killed by U.S. military police soon afterward, authorities said.

The Kuwaiti Ministry of Interior identified the assailants as Jassem Al Hajiri, 28, and Anas Al-Kandari, 21, both Kuwaitis.

The Department of Defense identified the Marine killed as Lance Cpl. Antonio J. Sledd, 20, of Hillsborough, Florida. The wounded Marine, who has not been identified, is expected to make a full recovery, military officials said.

About 1,000 Marines were involved in Eager Mace. All were withdrawn from the island, to the Kuwaiti mainland, for security reasons after the attack, officials said.

The Pentagon said it will resume using Failaka Island for training purposes, but will increase security.

The island is closed to most civilians, U.S. officials said, but there are civilians who work on the island and have permission to be there.