Q8NRI.com

Kuwait: With Friday’s two hoax phone calls over the presence of a bomb, one in Kuwait International Airport and the other in a restaurant complex in Abu Halifa area, the year 2010 so far has had a total of 12 hoaxes regarding bomb threats.

Two decades ago, Kuwait experienced a similar series of hoaxes when the Iraq-Iran War was in its zenith. Presently, these phone calls are now being made again as the Gulf region is tense with the possibility of American or Israeli aggression against Iran over its nuclear program.

The first instance of these calls began with the Kuwait Stock Exchange on Jan. 12. People were immediately evacuated from the stock exchange and business was interrupted for hours before staff and customers were allowed to resume their duties. It is believed that thousands of Kuwaiti dinars were lost that day due to the seemingly innocuous phone call.

Since January, a number of embassies have also been subject to this kind of offense, followed by a hoax threat to Beit Lothan, which has no political affiliations; Beit Lothan is a cultural and educational center that concerns itself with history and heritage.

Analysts have made note of the fact that the phone calls target different institutes across the country and that they have been characteristically diverse, as not only political institutes have been marked, but also cultural and historical societies too, indicating that all aspects of life are under scrutiny.

It has also been noted that the hoax calls have originated from both within and outside the country. Thanks to technology, the sources were tracked and, in one instance, three girls were arrested and charged with the offense. The three girls made their call stating that a bomb had been placed at the Australian curriculum Box?Hill College.

Regarding international calls, security experts from the Ministry of Communications reported that the source of the international phone calls is hard to pin down, as some of the callers have used the Internet to make them. Therefore, the destination shows that the calls originate from outside the country, whereas in reality they could very well have been made locally. It is also expected that new and modern mobile phones may have such specifications soon.

Some have speculated that such illegal practices may be directly linked to political goals and aims to destabilize the country. Others point out that it may be intertwined with criminal activities and that the purpose behind them is to distract State security from the real goal of these criminal groups. Few say that it is the work of some irresponsible teenagers acting in an immature manner.

No matter how trivial the phone calls might be ascertained to be, police and special forces must deal with all calls as serious until proven otherwise.
One phone call is enough to seriously cause alarm in many governmental and security departments.

American reportedly behind airport threat

Kuwait: Kuwait International Airport received an anonymous phone call early Friday morning from a person claiming to be of American citizenship, and that he had planted several bombs across different sections of the airport, specifying the commercial complex of the airport.

The call was made at around 2:00 am Friday morning, when the caller called the emergency services control room and introduced himself as an American national and threatened to blow up the airport if his children, who live in Kuwait with their mother, were not brought back to him.

The man gave airport authorities a time limit to make the necessary arrangements for his children to be taken from their mother and delivered directly to him.
Security forces, paramedics and firefighters were rushed to the airport in search of explosives, with the full anticipation that a disaster would take place. However, after carefully conducting a search across all sections of the airport, Special Forces and bomb squads found nothing.

While the event was unfolding, authorities ensured that all flights arriving and departing the country were not be affected.

Investigations are underway to determine the identity of the caller and further investigate the reasons behind his threats.?

Abdulrazaq Al-Najjar