Kuwait seeks death penalty for 11 of 29 terror suspects

KUWAIT: Kuwait's Public Prosecution has demanded the death penalty for 11 of 29 suspects charged over the suicide bombing of a Shiite mosque last month, a newspaper reported yesterday. Al-Qabas, citing informed sources, said two of the suspects are currently fighting with the Islamic State jihadist group which claimed the attack. The June 26 bombing, carried out by a Saudi, was the bloodiest in Kuwait's history and left 26 people killed and more than 200 wounded.

Those charged are seven Kuwaitis, five Saudis, three Pakistanis, 13 stateless people known as Bedoons, and another person at large whose identity is unknown, the prosecution said Tuesday. Twenty-four suspects are detained in Kuwait and the other five are to be tried in absentia, including two Saudi brothers who allegedly transported the explosives and are being held in Saudi Arabia. Al-Qabas said some of the suspects were also charged with joining a "terrorist" organization fighting against the state.

Two of the suspects have been charged with premeditated murder and attempted murder. Two others were charged with training in the use of explosives, nine with assisting in the crime and the rest with knowing of the attack without informing the authorities. An IS-affiliated group calling itself Najd Province claimed the bombing and also said it carried out suicide attacks on two Shiite mosques in Saudi Arabia in May. IS considers Shiites to be heretics and has targeted them across the region.