Arrest made in Americans' shootings

Riyadh - Authorities have arrested a Kuwaiti man who claims to have carried out the attack on two Americans ambushed at a traffic intersection in Kuwait City on Tuesday, an official Saudi government source told CNN.

The government source said Saudi authorities arrested Sami Mohammed Marzouk Obaid Al-Mutayri as he tried to walk across the border from Kuwait around 5 a.m. He was alone when he tried to enter Saudi Arabia.

The suspect, described as a Kuwaiti psychiatrist about 30 to 35 years old, confessed to the attack after several hours of questioning, the source said.

The Saudi government has informed Kuwaiti authorities about the arrest, but it has not elaborated on when it might extradite the suspect.

The Tuesday attack killed Michael Rene Pouliot, 46, of San Diego, California, who died at the scene, the U.S. Embassy reported. David Caraway, who was driving the vehicle, was shot six times but is expected to survive, authorities said.

Both men were contract workers for the U.S. military, employed by Tapestry Solutions, a San Diego company whose Web site says it has "specialized in the area of military modeling and simulation training tools."

According to police, the men were riding in an SUV, which was shot at least 24 times.

Authorities detained a number of people following the shooting, which Richard Jones, the U.S. ambassador to Kuwait, termed "a terrorist attack."

According to sources at the Kuwaiti Ministry of Information, the detained people were described as Kuwaitis who went to Afghanistan to train with the Taliban and al Qaeda, then returned home.

Investigators theorized the assailant or assailants likely hid in a tree-lined area beside the road and opened fire when the Americans' vehicle pulled up to the intersection.

The men were ambushed on the road leading from Camp Doha, the main U.S. Army base in Kuwait. The bullets were fired from an AK-47 assault rifle in the attack, which occurred about 9:20 a.m. (1:20 a.m. EST).

Caraway's physician, Malenko Kirsic, said Wednesday that Caraway was in stable condition after his surgery the day before.

The doctors said he was shot once in the arm, three times in the chest and twice in the leg. Doctors performed several procedures, including an operation on his upper right arm to repair a fractured humerus.

Pouliot co-founded Tapestry Solutions in 1993 and was the company's executive vice president. Caraway is a senior software engineer for the company.

"Our hearts and deepest sympathies go out to the families affected by this tragedy," said Mark Young, vice president of Tapestry Solutions. "We are stunned by this senseless act of violence, which has taken a great man and friend of our family."

Kuwaiti officials denounced the attack. Mishery Al-Anjary, deputy speaker of the Kuwaiti Parliament, called it "an awful terrorist act."

"It's a terrible thing. Acts like this are difficult to prevent in any country -- even in Kuwaiti society," he said. "We are determined to capture the perpetrators. We are hoping that this is the last case of this kind of thing to happen in our country and to our guests."

Jones said the United States has "full confidence" that the Kuwaitis will pursue the matter "vigorously and professionally."

The U.S. Embassy said the attack took place at a three-way intersection with a traffic light 3 miles from Camp Doha.

The Interior Ministry said the two Americans were driving from the direction of Camp Doha but could not say whether the vehicle came from the camp.

Fadia Nasser, owner of a restaurant that Pouliot frequented, called him a "gentleman," saying he was a "very nice guy, sensitive, caring ... He was very proud because his company was doing very good."

In November, two U.S. soldiers traveling from Camp Doha to the town of Oraifijan in a civilian vehicle were pulled off the road and shot at close range. Both soldiers, who were wearing civilian clothes, survived. A Kuwaiti police sergeant was arrested in connection with the attack after being apprehended in Saudi Arabia.

A month earlier, two Kuwaiti gunmen suspected of having ties to Osama bin Laden's al Qaeda network attacked U.S. troops on Kuwait's Failaka Island, killing one Marine and injuring another. The assailants were killed in return fire. -- CNN News

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