KUWAIT CITY — Police in Kuwait say they have interrogated a number of suspects with possible links to the suicide bombing that killed 26 people during Friday prayers. An Interior Ministry statement on Saturday says that police have also arrested the owner of the car that was used by the suicide bomber to drive to the mosque, where he detonated his device once inside. Police did not say how many suspects are being interrogated. The Interior Ministry said it was now looking for the driver of the Japanese-made car, who left the mosque immediately after Friday's bombing, Kuwait television and the official KUNA news agency reported. Kuwait also stepped up security to the highest level at state-run oil conglomerate Kuwait Petroleum Corp (KPC) and its affiliates, KUNA reported on Saturday, quoting Sheikh Talal Al-Khaled Al-Sabah, spokesman for the country's oil sector. Separately, state-run oil refiner Kuwait National Petroleum Company (KNPC) said “extra monitoring and searches” were being taken to increase security. The cabinet announced after an emergency meeting Friday that all security agencies and police had been placed on alert to confront what it called “black terror.” It also declared Saturday a day of mourning. Meanwhile, Kuwait held a mass funeral for 26 victims of the bombing. The Interior Ministry said in a statement early Saturday that 26 people and the suicide bomber were killed and 227 others were wounded in one of the country's worst bombings and its first ever on a mosque. The attack targeted Al-Imam Al-Sadeq mosque in the capital Kuwait City during Friday noon prayers. The mosque authorities said condolences would be accepted for three days starting on Saturday at the Grand Mosque, the largest place of worship for Sunni Muslims, in a show of solidarity. Kuwait's emir, the government, parliament and political groups and clerics have said the attack was aimed at stirring sectarian strife in the emirate. — Agencies
