AFP/Kuwait City

A Kuwaiti court sentenced seven men to death yesterday, five of them in absentia, for their roles in a deadly Shia mosque bombing claimed by the Islamic State group.
A total of 29 defendants, seven of them women, had been on trial on charges of helping a Saudi suicide bomber carry out the June 26 attack which killed 26 Shia worshippers and wounded 227.
It was the bloodiest attack in Kuwait’s history.
“The court draws attention to the dangers of this extremist ideology that resorts to terrorism for its implementation,” judge Mohamed al-Duaij said before reading out the verdicts in a packed courtroom.
He called on authorities to root out the ideology of the militants.
Among those he sentenced to death was Abdulrahman Sabah Saud, a stateless Arab convicted of driving the bomber to the mosque and bringing the explosives belt he used from near the Saudi border.
During the trial, Saud confessed to dropping off the bomber but said he had been assured that the plan was to blow up the mosque without harming any worshippers.
The second man in the dock sentenced to death was Fahad Farraj Muhareb, described by the court as the “wali” or leader of the local IS branch.
The other five—who remain at large—include two Saudi brothers, Mohamed and Majed al-Zahrani, who were convicted of smuggling the explosives used in the attack from Saudi Arabia in an icebox.
The two men were arrested by Saudi authorities days after the bombing.
The other three include two stateless Arabs who were convicted of fighting with IS, as well as one defendant whose identity has not been established.
The court sentenced eight people, including five women, to jail terms ranging from two to 15 years for providing weapons training, abetting the attack, or knowing about it and failing to inform authorities.
It acquitted 14 defendants, including two women. Eleven of them had been released during the trial.
Among those acquitted was Jarrah Nimer, owner of the car used to drop off the bomber.
There was tight security for the hearing, with armoured vehicles outside the Kuwait City court complex and helicopters patrolling overhead.
Twenty-four defendants were in court to hear the verdicts. Men were put in a metal cage, while women were allowed to sit, watched over by a large number of police.
Including those still at large, the defendants comprised seven Kuwaitis, five Saudis, three Pakistanis and 13 stateless Arabs, plus the unidentified fugitive.
An IS-affiliated group calling itself Najd Province claimed the Kuwait City bombing as well as suicide attacks at two Shia mosques in Saudi Arabia in May.
Najd is the central region of Saudi Arabia.
IS extremists have repeatedly attacked Shia targets in the region.
Kuwaiti authorities announced in July that they had arrested four members of a suspected IS cell, while a fifth member had died during a “terrorist” operation in Iraq.
In another trial yesterday, more than 20 Kuwaitis denied that they were linked to Iran and the Shia militia group Hezbollah, alleging that confessions were extracted under torture.
Of 26 people charged, three remain at large, including the only Iranian in the case.
Prosecutors two weeks ago charged 24 of the defendants with plotting attacks against the emirate in collaboration with Iran and Hezbollah.
They were also charged with smuggling in and assembling explosives, as well as possessing firearms and ammunition.
A number were also charged with Hezbollah membership.
The accusations came after the interior ministry said in August it had uncovered a large amount of weapons, ammunition and explosives when arresting members of a “terror cell”.
Although all of the defendants claimed they had been tortured, they also told the judge that all traces of beatings or electric shocks have since disappeared.
Defence lawyers asked the court to refer the suspects to a neutral medical commission to examine their claims, and also called for their release.
The judge rejected their request, and set September 29 for the next hearing.
The prosecutor charged that 22 of the suspects had received explosives and weapons training so they could “achieve illegal goals”.
Iran has officially denied any links to the suspects.