CNN.com January 25, 2003
Shots near U.S. military convoy
KUWAIT CITY (CNN) -- Shots were fired at a U.S. military convoy Saturday morning, but no one was injured, Kuwaiti government sources said.
It was not clear if the shots came from a nearby, open-air shooting range located near the Sixth Ring Road, where the incident occurred.
U.S. military spokesman Capt. David Connolly issued this statement: "At 8:15 this morning, shots were fired from a car on the Sixth Ring Road near the 605 overpass."
The attack comes days after one U.S. civilian was killed and another wounded when their vehicle was ambushed on the main road leading from the U.S. military's Camp Doha. Two dozen rounds were fired on the vehicle.
A Kuwaiti man was arrested and is reported to have confessed to Tuesday's attack.
Michael Rene Pouliot, 46, died at the scene. David Caraway, who was driving the vehicle, sustained six gunshot wounds.
Caraway, said Friday his health was improving -- but he could not remember anything about the attack.
"I'm getting better," said David Caraway, 37, survivor of Tuesday's ambush that has resulted in the arrest and reported confession of a Kuwaiti man. His condition has been upgraded from serious to stable.
"I don't remember anything," Caraway told reporters as he was being transferred by ambulance to another Kuwaiti hospital. "I was stopped at a red light, didn't see anyone. We were hit with the first volley of machine gun fire."
An estimated 9,000 U.S. troops are in Kuwait to support regional headquarters for the U.S. 3rd Army and the Army component of U.S. Central Command and the Coalition/Joint Task Force-Kuwait. In addition, the 201st Military Intelligence Battalion, 54th Signal Battalion and 831st Transportation Battalion are based here, according to the military research group Globalsecurity.org.
The camp was established after the liberation of Kuwait in 1991. In late 2002 and early 2003, tanks, heavy artillery, bombers and AC-130 gunships were moved here from other regional bases, including those in Saudi Arabia.
Police have matched bullets found at the scene of Tuesday's ambush to a gun retrieved at the workplace of a Kuwaiti man, government sources said Friday.
Sami Mohammed Marzouk Obaid Al-Mutaryi, 25, a Kuwait civil servant, was extradited from Saudi Arabia Thursday after he was arrested while crossing the border. Kuwaiti officials said he was not carrying a passport.
Police have also reportedly matched fingerprints found on the gun to Al-Mutaryi and tire tracks found near the scene to a Lexus that Al-Mutaryi said he used during the attack, Kuwaiti officials said.
Al-Mutaryi was identified and was being sought for questioning soon after the incident took place. Kuwait's Interior Ministry has not said how he was identified, but authorities had said earlier they were reviewing videotape from a traffic camera where Tuesday's attack took place.
Without elaborating, the ministry also said Al-Mutaryi shares beliefs with Osama bin Laden.
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