In recent weeks Kuwaiti officials arrested several people suspected of plotting to blow up U.S. assets in the region. At least four of the six suspects led authorities to large amounts of explosives, and are being questioned by state prosecutors pending charges, according to Kuwaiti officials. Cohen said the issue is the Kuwaitis' to investigate and resolve. Kuwaiti naval and coast guard forces are working successfully to protect the country's coastline and interdict the smugglers trying to evade United Nations' sanctions against Iraq. Cohen said an important part of American commitment to security in the Middle East involves continuing efforts to secure a peace agreement between the Palestinians and the Israelis.
Security is a very important issue to Kuwait and Saudi Arabia.
When Iraq invaded Kuwait in 1990, Saudi Arabia accepted the fleeing Kuwaiti royal family and some 400,000 refugees escaping Saddam Hussein's armies. The next year, the Saudis allowed coalition forces, to include more than 500,000 U.S. troops, to assemble on their soil. The U.S. and coalition forces launched a counter attack, known as Operation Desert Storm, that pushed the Iraqis out of Kuwait. A lingering dilemma from the Persian Gulf War facing Kuwait involves some 6,000-service members and civilians discovered missing after defeated Iraqi forces retreated from Kuwaiti territory in 1991, said Kuwaiti officials at the press briefing. Iraq has not yet released any details about the missing people.