KUWAIT CITY : The Public Prosecution Monday ordered the detention of Islamist activist Mubarak Al-Bathali until Tuesday for his statement on his relations with ‘jihadists’ in Iraq, which was published in a local newspaper on May 7.
In an interview with Al-Qabas daily, Al-Bathali said he hopes to be an al-Qaeda leader in Kuwait. “The youths organize themselves based on their trust in each other. If I can’t personally evaluate somebody who tries to contact me, I assess his skills through some tests and ask him to conduct an organized ‘jihad’ (holy war) operation,” Al-Bathali explained during the interview.
Earlier a local Arabic daily during an interview with Al-Bathali had attributed a statement to him calling the statement bold, true and frank.
“In response to a question on the leadership of the al-Qaeda network in Kuwait, Al-Bathali had reportedly said ‘I hope I will be the leader of this organization in the country’.
Responding to another query, Bathali had allegedly revealed many people in Kuwait currently belong to some foreign organizations such as the pro-Sunna organization, al-Qaeda network and the Taleban movement but denied leadership of these organizations.
During the same interview, he had introduced himself as a ‘guide’ for Mujahedeens to do good actions. Going to Afghanistan and Iraq and earlier to Kosovo and Chechnya, he said, fell within the scope of good work.
He had also allegedly said many people are currently planning to go to Afghanistan and ‘we will help them’ hinting the way to that country is easy and even ‘my grandmother knows how to reach Kabul’.
“He was also quoted as saying he had ‘planned’ to meet Abu Musaab Al-Zarqawi and Osama bin Laden, but failed to do so because he was arrested and jailed in Jordan in 2000.
Meanwhile, the Al-Watan Arabic daily quoting reliable sources said Islamists in Egypt are said to have reacted to what Bathali said about an Egyptian lawyer defending Islamic groups. Bathali reportedly said the lawyer is delaying payment of 70,000 euros given to him by an unidentified Libyan man after his account in Kuwait was frozen upon a decision issued by the United Nations Security Council.
Surprisingly, Abdulhalim Tayel, brother of the suspect who assassinated the Egyptian president Anwar el-Sadat has reportedly said he was the middleman between the lawyer and Al-Bathali.

By Moamen Al-Masri
Special to the Arab Times and Agencies