KUWAIT CITY, Oct 19: Kuwait has received “general warnings” about a possible terror attack, senior officials said on Sunday, admitting they decided not to issue public alarm bells.

“We’ve had some warnings from certain countries, notably the United States,” over the weekend, said Information Minister Mohammad Abdullah Abu al-Hassan.

He said the general warnings “go round the world ... thus we decided not to sound the alarm to the population and local institutions. They were general warnings which did not specifically concern Kuwait.”

The statement to visiting French journalists came after a message attributed to Al Qaeda chief Osama bin Laden was broadcast on Saturday, threatening to send suicide bombers to the US and to attack any forces joining the US-led coalition in Iraq, including Kuwait.

The minister said Kuwait was not aware of any active Al Qaeda cells in the Gulf emirate, although there maybe “sympathisers” in the country.

“We had some incidents before the liberation of Iraq, but they were sporadic. There were one or two incidents caused by people opposed to the presence of American forces, adolescents were behind them without any support from the population or any institution,” he said.

Parliamentary speaker Jassem al-Khorafi said there was nothing to fear from the message.

“It’s the reason why the world is united against terrorism,” he said. “We believe that if we act properly we have nothing to fear. There were one or two (anti-American) incidents, that’s true but it was not Al Qaeda people. That will always happen and you will always have individuals who want to take action, but they are few.”

Deputy Prime Minister and Defence Minister Sheikh Jaber Mubarak al-Ahmed al-Sabah said “the terrorists operate clandestinely, Kuwait has to be on its guard and ready to confront this problem.—AFP