A U.S. soldier with Task Force 1-30 of the 3rd Infantry rides an armored during warfare exercises in the Kuwaiti desert south of Iraq

KUWAIT CITY, January 25 (IslamOnline & News Agencies) - Shots were fired Saturday, January 25, near a U.S. military convoy, the seventh shooting involving Americans in Kuwait since October 2002, as Washington mulled reducing its diplomatic presence in the tense Gulf state.

The U.S. military was maintaining strict secrecy Saturday around exercises taking place within 5 kilometers of the Iraqi border and over a 30-kilometre range.

"This morning at approximately 8:15 am (0515 GMT) a convoy reported shots fired from a car on the 6th ring road at the 605 overpass," U.S. army spokesman Sgt First Class David Dismukes told Agence France-Presse (AFP).

There were no injuries reported, and Dismukes could not specify if the shots were aimed at the convoy.

The shooting came after a highway ambush on Tuesday, January 21, killed one American and seriously wounding another near Camp Doha, the largest U.S. army base here, 30 kilometers (19 miles) north of Kuwait City.

In Washington, a senior State Department official said the United States may scale down its diplomatic presence in Kuwait -- a key ally and possible launch pad for U.S.-led attack on Iraq -- due to heightened security concerns following Pouliot's murder.

Saturday's gunfire appeared similar to three previous incidents, when shots were reportedly fired near U.S. soldiers, either traveling in a convoy or during exercises, and with no reported injuries.

Kuwait played down those incidents, saying they could have been the result of bird hunters.

The emirate's defense ministry has since sealed off the entire northwestern part of the country in what it described as a safety precaution for citizens during ongoing U.S. and Kuwaiti military exercises.

A diplomatic source told AFP a suspect license plate number had been registered during Saturday's shooting and passed onto Kuwaiti security authorities.

But a senior Kuwaiti security official told AFP that a report on Saturday's incident had so far not been filed with the local authorities.

A Kuwaiti arrested in connection with Tuesday's attack confessed to shooting the two Americans, both contractors working with the U.S. military in Kuwait, the emirate's interior ministry said.

Tuesday's attack, the first to target civilians, was the second deadly one. Last October, two Kuwaiti gunmen killed a U.S. marine and wounded another during wargames on Failaka island, 20 kilometers (12 miles) east of Kuwait City.

In November, a Kuwaiti police officer shot and seriously wounded two U.S. soldiers after stopping them on a highway south of the capital.

The suspect, Khalid Messier al-Shimmari, told state security during interrogation that he hated Americans and wanted to kill them.

General Tommy Franks, commander of U.S. forces in the Gulf, was in the emirate Saturday where he met with senior Kuwaiti officials, including Interior Minister Sheikh Mohammed Khalid al-Sabah.

The two men discussed "mutual security matters important for both countries," according to an interior ministry statement.

The U.S. ambassador to Kuwait, Richard Jones, told reporters Friday there were two different militant cells of Afghan Kuwaitis operating in the emirate.

"There are definitely people out there who wish us harm," Jones said.

Tuesday's attack was condemned by Kuwait and labeled as "terrorist" by the U.S. embassy, which has urged citizens to step up their security awareness.

Some 8,000 Americans are residents of Kuwait, while more than 16,000 U.S. troops are currently based in the emirate as the United States threatens to launch a massive military campaign against neighboring Iraq.

Live-fire U.S. armored, infantry wargames in Kuwait shrouded in secrecy

The U.S. military was maintaining strict secrecy Saturday around exercises taking place in the Northern Kuwait desert, within five kilometers (three miles) of the Iraqi border and over a 30-kilometre (18-mile) range.

It was the 11th day of exercises over the past two weeks that will culminate in night-time live-fire on Sunday, January 26, the eve of a vital report to the United Nations in New York on Iraqi compliance with weapons inspections.

Bradley fighting vehicles led the attack across the desert with Abrams tanks held in supporting positions but shelling the mock enemy up to two and three kilometers (miles) ahead of advancing troops.

Engineers then moved forward and shot tubes packed with C4 explosives through the minefield which detonated and cleared a path for incoming troops.

 ‘Iraq or anywhere else’

Captain Jorge Melendez said, "this gives us a decent appreciation for our forces; it's unbelievable."

Melendez declined to comment on Iraq except to say: "Maybe we'll go to Iraq and maybe we won't. We'll keep training to be ready."

But he did not seem worried despite the growing war rhetoric from the United States and increasing tension in Baghdad.

"I feel ready and confident in our forces and it doesn't matter if it involves Iraq or anywhere else. The more you train the more lethal the unit gets," the captain said.