Officials in Kuwait say they have arrested a senior member of the terror network al-Qaida. They say he has confessed to planning last month's bomb attack on a French oil tanker in Yemen. Authorities say the arrest also prevented plans to carry out another act of terrorism in Yemen's capital.
Kuwaiti officials say the arrest of the 21-year-old suspect foiled a plot to carry out an attack on a hotel in Yemen that is frequented by American military officials.
Newspaper reports say a senior Kuwaiti security official has identified the suspect as Mohsan al-Fadhli, a Kuwaiti citizen. Officials say he was the senior coordinator of al-Qaida activities in the Gulf region.
They say he has confessed to plotting a bomb attack against a hotel in Yemen's capital Sanaa and of planning last month's bomb attack against a French oil tanker off the coast of Yemen that killed a Bulgarian crewmember.
Authorities say Mr. al-Fadhli is a former fighter with the Taleban in Afghanistan and with Chechen rebels in Russia. They say they have been monitoring his activities since he returned to Kuwait early this year. He was arrested nearly two-weeks ago.
Authorities say the arrest is connected to a complex network of al-Qaida activities involving Kuwait, Yemen, and Saudi Arabia.