KUWAIT CITY, July 23 (AFP) - Kuwaiti authorities have arrested several people on suspicion of involvement in recruiting youths to fight US forces in Iraq following the extradition of four suspects from Syria, newspapers reported Friday.
The interior ministry "received from Syrian security authorities four people arrested on charges of illegal entry into Iraq" from the Syrian border, the papers quoted a ministry official as saying late Thursday.
Two of the four had previously entered Iraq while the two others were caught trying to infiltrate into the country, said spokesman Adel al-Hashash.
Hashash said the four had confessed to the charges and informed on other people, including a number who were under 18, some of whom were detained and found in possession of weapons as well as "maps and plans for (terrorist) operations."
Authorities are trying to track down other suspects, he added.
The Kuwaiti daily Al-Rai al-Aam quoted security sources as saying more than six suspects had been detained and that plans found with them "targeted some outposts of the (US-led) coalition in Iraq."
The sources said authorities were also clamping down on "Islamist radicals" in light of information gleaned from the suspects and were keeping a watch on their activities, especially their "incitement of young men to go to Iraq to wage jihad (holy war)."
Fifteen radicals were behind bars while others were being kept under surveillance after they were held and released, Al-Rai al-Aam said.
According to the daily Al-Siyassa, one of the suspects handed over by Syria said he had been helped to go to Iraq by Khaled al-Dossari, spokesman of the Association of Victims of Torture and Arbitrary Arrest.
Dossari evaded an attempt by security forces to arrest him on Monday, the paper reported.
However, Dossari charged on a website that authorities were after him because he had evidence of human rights violations by security services and was defending victims of abuse.
Several Arab and international human rights groups denounced the failed attempt to arrest Dossari and deplored what they called the pressures exerted on "defenders of victims of torture and arbitrary arrest in Kuwait," Al-Siyassa said.
In a report from Kuwait, the Saudi-owned pan-Arab daily Al-Hayat said between 15 and 20 youths, including Saudi nationals, had been arrested in the past two days in connection with a purported network seeking to recruit volunteers to fight against foreign forces in Iraq.
Al-Siyassa reported on July 3 that the United States had warned Kuwait, a close ally, about the suspected links of nine Kuwaitis to the Al-Qaeda terror network and their alleged involvement in anti-US fighting in Iraq.
Some 25,000 US troops are based in Kuwait, which served as the main launching pad for the US-led invasion last year that ousted Iraqi president Saddam Hussein.