KUWAIT CITY, Nov 17: A senior Kuwaiti member of Al Qaeda arrested in the Emirate has been referred to the public prosecution along with another Kuwaiti, a security source said on Sunday.

Mohsen Al Fadli, a top Al Qaeda leader for the Gulf, and Adel Buhaimed, were referred to the prosecution on Saturday, the source said. Both fought in Afghanistan alongside the Taliban. Buhaimed was initially arrested in the Emirate in 1992 for collecting weapons, he added.

Newspapers reported on Sunday that security authorities had arrested Fadli, the top Al Qaeda leader for the Gulf, foiling a plot by the terror group to blow up a hotel in Yemen used by Americans during the holy month of Ramazan.

Those arrested were involved in collecting funds to support attacks in Yemen, Al Watan said.

Investigations revealed members of the same cell in Yemen were involved in the attack on the USS Cole as well as the attack on a French tanker in Yemen last month, the daily said.

The arrests, reportedly made some two weeks ago, have thrown Kuwait back into the spotlight following the deadly Oct 8 shooting of a US marine by two Kuwaiti assailants who had allegedly sworn allegiance to Al Qaeda leader Osama bin Laden.

Six Kuwaitis are still being questioned and last week told a judge they had confessed under duress. Soon after the Sept 11 attacks, a Kuwaiti, Suleiman Abu Ghaith, emerged as Al Qaeda’s spokesman, making numerous televised appearances, often alongside Osama, and threatening new attacks against US targets.—AFP