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Kuwait Arrests 12 Convicted Members of Abdali Cells Linked to ‘Hezbollah,’ Iran | ASHARQ AL-AWSAT English Archive 2005 -2017
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Weapons and ammunition seized by Kuwaiti authorities after their discovery of the al-Abdali cell in 2015. (KUNA)


Kuwait announced on Saturday that it had arrested 12 convicted members of the al-Abdali terrorist cell.

The members have ties to Iran and Lebanon’s “Hezbollah,” which is also backed by Tehran.

The suspects were arrested after a weeks-long manhunt, announced the Interior Ministry according to the Kuwait News Agency (KUNA).

They had been on the run since their sentencing last month, while two other convicted Kuwaitis remained at large.

The supreme court in Kuwait in June overturned an acquittal by an appeals court and convicted 21 suspects of forming a terrorist cell with ties to Iran and “Hezbollah”.

The cell had planned to launch attacks across the Gulf state, according to the court verdict.

Kuwait has protested to Lebanon over the alleged training of the al-Abdali cell by “Hezbollah”.

On Friday, Lebanese Foreign Minister Jebran Bassil held telephone talks with his Kuwaiti counterpart to discuss the complaint against Lebanon, vowing to follow up on the case.

Last month, authorities expelled 15 Iranian diplomats and shut down the military, cultural and trade missions of the Iranian embassy over Tehran’s backing of the terrorist cell.

Iran said the allegation is baseless.