Kuwaiti authorities are confirming that al-Qaeda was behind the attack there Tuesday on two Americans, which killed one and gravely injured the other. They have been interrogating Sami Muhammad Marzuq al-Mutayri (Mutairi), who was captured by the Saudis and turned back over to Kuwait. An employee of Kuwait's department of social affairs, he had tried to go to Afghanistan after the September 11 attacks on the US, to fight for al-Qaeda. The 24-year-old has confessed to the shooting, and says that he had accomplices who are still at large.

Al-Qaeda has switched from theatrical terrorism to such smallish operations that can be carried out by a single individual against US civilians and government/military personnel.