KUWAIT: What turned an otherwise law-abiding, well-educated young Kuwaiti into a killer disciple of Osama bin Laden? Jack Fairweather in Kuwait investigates
He was known to his friends for his gentle demeanour and big heart. Meet Sami al-Mutairi, a 25-year old wealthy Kuwaiti who a few years ago was committed to liberal causes and saving the environment.
Yet last month Sami lay in wait behind bushes at a set of traffic lights and pumped the first jeep full of bullets with a Kalashnikov rifle, killing one American and seriously injuring another.
Sami al-Mutairi's conversion from model citizen to Islamic extremist espousing the ideas of Osama bin Laden in the space of a couple of years is the story of how a small wealthy state, previously untroubled by Islamic extremism, has become a hotbed of terrorist activity.
In the country hosting the biggest build-up of US forces in the region since the first Gulf War, armed patrols have been placed on the streets and American forces move only by convoy at night for fear of further terrorist attacks.
The spate of violence in Kuwait in recent months has left two American marines dead and four others injured, and security officials in the country believe there are hundreds more like Sami al-Mutairi.
But three years ago Sami was just like many other young Kuwaitis, leaving university with a degree in sociology, uncertain as to what to do and in the meantime dabbling a little in Islamic ideas.
He soon ran into trouble when he began a friendship with a Kuwaiti called Badi Kruz who had trained in Afghanistan.
According to Jassim Boodai, editor of local Arabic newspaper al-Rai al Aam, who has known Sami for many years, the activities of al-Mutairi and Kruz was just "innocent stuff in the beginning".
"They would stand watch outside the bachelor pads of wealthy businessmen, video-taping their adulterous affairs before threatening to make public the tapes unless they became 'good Muslims'," said Boodai.
Al-Mutairi and Kruz were arrested when one young couple reported their activities to the police. They were released with a firm reprimand from the authorities. But following the events of September 11th things began to change for Sami.
According to Boodai, bin Laden's call to arms against "American imperialism" began to alter the horizon of possibilities for Sami and other like him.
In the months following September 11th, Sami tried twice to smuggle himself into Afghanistan from Pakistan and then Iran to join al-Qaeda and Taliban fighters preparing to fight the US forces.
He returned to Kuwait last year, but, other than attending the local mosque and meeting the so-called Afghan Kuwaitis who had made it into the country, dedicated himself to studying the Koran.
Far from having his radicalism tempered, Sami began assembling an arsenal of weapons through contacts of Kruz, including the Kalashnikov rifle used in the attack on the two Americans.
Committed to fighting the American presence in the region, it was only a matter of time before al-Mutairi would begin planning an attack on the vast US war machine in his country.
On January 21st, he hid in bushes by the side of a road often used by the US military and began shooting at the vehicle of civilian software designers working at a nearby camp. They were unfortunate enough to stop at traffic lights while the military convoy they were with drove past.
Al-Mutairi then walked over to the vehicle to make sure he had hit the two men before fleeing south to the Saudi border, where he was later caught by the police and made a video-taped confession.
"I believe in al-Qaeda ideas," he said. "The US is evil. I have carried out Sheikh Osama bin Laden's instructions. This is a gift for him."
If convicted of murder he faces the death sentence, in Kuwait carried out by hanging.
Sami's transformation from liberal student to terrorist has shocked many people in Kuwait, which remains a small and closely-knit community of families and tribal groups.
Mohammed al-Mutairi, his lawyer and a relation of Sami, said: "We have all been deeply shocked by what has happened. His family is distraught. I have known him his entire life and he has always been kind and simple and a good Muslim."
But there are others who have begun to raise questions as to how al-Mutairi, a man with known sympathies with al-Qaeda was able to assemble a collection of weapons and launch an attack in the first place.
According to a security official who wished to remain anonymous, al-Mutairi had been under 24-hour surveillance since his return from the abortive attempt to enter Afghanistan.
"The conclusion I have drawn is that al-Mutairi bought his gun and committed this atrocity with the knowledge of certain members of the security forces," said the official.
One possible explanation as to why officers did not report al-Mutairi's activities is that they belonged to the same Bedouin tribe as Sami - one of the largest in Kuwait - and that tribal loyalties allowed them to turn a blind eye to his activities.
Another more worrying possibility is that members of Kuwait's security forces share the extremist ideas of al-Mutairi.
Such a revelation will cause grave concern to American military planners who have asked the same security forces to step up protection while preparations for war get under way.
As war against Iraq approaches, it seems certain there are others like Sami waiting to attack, and there is very little that can be done to stop them.