Colorado Attack Suspect Lived in Kuwait for 17 Years
According to CNN, Soliman had worked as an accountant in Kuwait and maintained a Facebook profile that featured images supporting the Muslim Brotherhood's protests against the 2013 ousting of Egypt's former president, Mohamed Morsi. Authorities say Soliman spent a year meticulously planning the attack, delaying it until after his daughter's high school graduation.
A report in the Colorado Springs Gazette earlier this year profiled a scholarship recipient who closely matched the description of Soliman's daughter. In her application, she wrote about her family's immigration journey from Kuwait to the U.S. and described how her father underwent a 'difficult surgery' that restored his ability to walk—an event that inspired her to pursue medicine.
When questioned by investigators, Soliman admitted to researching how to construct Molotov cocktails on YouTube and selecting his target group through online sources. On the day of the attack, he reportedly left a hidden iPhone in his home office containing personal messages and a diary. Disguised as a gardener in a yellow safety vest and carrying a bouquet, he approached the rally site to launch his assault.
Bystanders captured video footage of Soliman after the attack, shirtless and yelling slogans such as 'Free Palestine' and 'Stop the Zionists' before being apprehended by police. He now faces multiple charges, including attempted murder, assault, possession of an incendiary device, and a federal hate crime. The FBI has classified the attack as an act of domestic terrorism.
'He stated he had no regrets and would do it again,' said J. Bishop Gruwell, Colorado's Interim U.S. Attorney. A police detective noted in court documents that Soliman had told authorities, 'He had to do it… and would not forgive himself if he didn't.' If convicted, Soliman faces a life sentence.
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Kuwait Times
an hour ago
- Kuwait Times
Meta to ban political ads in EU due to bloc's ‘unworkable' rules
BRUSSELS: Meta on Friday said it will be forced to ban political advertising on its platforms in the European Union from October because of rules the Facebook and Instagram owner called 'unworkable'. The EU has a bolstered legal armory to rein in Big Tech, against which Meta has hit out - with the support of US President Donald Trump's administration. Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg has been highly critical of European rules, accusing Brussels in January of 'censorship' while this week the US State Department denounced the EU's 'Orwellian' regulation of social media. Against this uneasy backdrop, and with EU-US trade tensions sky-high, Meta announced that political, electoral and social issue advertising will no longer be allowed from October in the bloc because of 'unworkable requirements' under new rules. 'This is a difficult decision - one we've taken in response to the EU's incoming Transparency and Targeting of Political Advertising (TTPA) regulation,' it said. 'Unfortunately, the TTPA introduces significant, additional obligations to our processes and systems that create an untenable level of complexity and legal uncertainty for advertisers and platforms operating in the EU,' Meta added. The tech giant stressed that its European users would still be able to post and debate about politics. The EU says its political advertising rules seek to increase transparency in online advertising after Facebook's Cambridge Analytica scandal, which came to light in 2018. Cambridge Analytica was a consulting firm that was found to have improperly accessed personal data from millions of Facebook users for targeted political advertising, particularly during the 2016 US election and Brexit referendum. The change is set to impact Meta's flagship platforms Facebook and Instagram, as well as WhatsApp - which is largely ad-free but announced in June it would be introducing new advertising features in some parts of the app. Meta said it was 'not the only company to have been forced into this position'. Google last year announced it would also prevent political advertising in the EU from October 2025 because of the 'significant new operational challenges and legal uncertainties'. Meta and Brussels have locked horns on a series of issues - most recently over the firm's 'pay or consent' system regarding user data. The EU slapped a 200-million-euro ($235-million) fine in April after concluding Meta violated rules on the use of personal data on Facebook and Instagram. Zuckerberg has previously equated EU fines against the company to tariffs. Facebook and Instagram also face investigations under the EU's mammoth content moderation law known as the Digital Services Act (DSA). Meta's announcement comes as US officials ramp up their attacks on the DSA. The State Department took aim at the DSA on Tuesday as it accused European countries of convicting thousands of people 'for the crime of criticizing their own governments,' without elaborating on the allegation. And the judiciary committee of the US House of Representatives on Friday described the EU law as a 'foreign censorship threat' that forces 'platforms to change content moderation policies that apply in the United States'. 'On paper, the DSA is bad. In practice, it is even worse,' the Republican-majority committee said in an interim report. Staunch Trump ally Jim Jordan, committee chair, will meet the EU's digital chief, Henna Virkkunen, in Brussels on Monday. Jordan will be joined by other US Congress members in a bipartisan delegation, EU digital spokesman Thomas Regnier said. The European Commission rejected the censorship claims. 'Freedom of expression is a fundamental right in the EU. And it is at the heart of our legislation, including the DSA,' Regnier said.- AFP
Kuwait Times
21 hours ago
- Kuwait Times
Lebanese militant back home after 40 years in French jail
KOBAYAT: Lebanese army soldiers stand guard as pro-Palestinian Lebanese militant Georges Ibrahim Abdallah, 74, prepares to give a press conference upon his arrival in his village of Kobayat in Lebanon's northern Akkar region on July 25, 2025, after serving more than 40 years in jail in France. – AFP KOBAYAT: One of France's longest-held inmates, the pro-Palestinian Lebanese militant Georges Ibrahim Abdallah, arrived in his hometown on Friday, having been released after more than 40 years behind bars for the killings of two diplomats. AFP journalists saw a convoy leaving the Lannemezan prison in southwest France, and hours later, the 74-year-old was placed on a plane and deported back to Lebanon, to be welcomed by family members on his return to Beirut at the airport's VIP lounge. Back in his hometown of Kobayat, near the Syrian border in north Lebanon, hundreds of men, women and children gathered to welcome Abdallah. 'Whether or not we agree with his ideas... we first and foremost salute the man,' lawmaker Jimmy Jabbour, who is from the area, told AFP, hailing Abdallah's 'perseverance'. 'The whole village is happy that he's back... 41 years in prison, others would have probably lost their minds,' said Kobayat resident Claudette Tannous, 68. Earlier at Beirut airport, an AFP correspondent said dozens of supporters, some waving Palestinian or Lebanese Communist Party flags, gathered near the arrivals hall to give him a hero's reception. In his first public address after being released, Abdallah took aim at ongoing war in the Gaza Strip, where human rights organizations have warned of mass starvation. 'The children of Palestine are dying of hunger while millions of Arabs watch,' he said. 'Resistance must continue and intensify,' added the former schoolteacher. There was no official comment on his return from the Lebanese government. Abdallah was detained in 1984 and sentenced to life in prison in 1987 for his involvement in the murders of US military attache Charles Robert Ray and Zionist diplomat Yacov Barsimantov in Paris. 'Past symbol' The Paris Court of Appeal had ordered his release 'effective July 25' on the condition that he leave French territory and never return. While he had been eligible for release since 1999, his previous requests were denied with the United States—a civil party to the case—consistently opposing his leaving prison. Inmates serving life sentences in France are typically freed after fewer than 30 years. Abdallah's lawyer, Jean-Louis Chalanset, visited him for a final time on Thursday. 'He seemed very happy about his upcoming release, even though he knows he is returning to the Middle East in an extremely tough context for Lebanese and Palestinian populations,' Chalanset told AFP. The charge d'affaires of the Lebanese Embassy in Paris, Ziad Taan, who saw Georges Abdallah before his departure, told AFP that he was 'well, in good health, very happy to return to Lebanon to his family and to regain his freedom'. AFP visited Abdallah last week after the court's release decision, accompanying a lawmaker to the detention center. The founder of the Lebanese Revolutionary Armed Factions (FARL) - a long-disbanded Marxist anti-Zionist group—said for more than four decades he had continued to be a 'militant with a struggle'. After his arrest in 1984, French police discovered submachine guns and transceiver stations in one of his Paris apartments. The appeals court in February noted that the FARL 'had not committed a violent action since 1984' and that Abdallah 'today represented a past symbol of the Palestinian struggle'. The appeals judges also found the length of his detention 'disproportionate' to his crimes, and pointed to his age. — AFP
Arab Times
a day ago
- Arab Times
India's Modi announces credit worth $565 million to Maldives and launches free trade talks
COLOMBO, Sri Lanka, July 26, (AP): Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Friday announced a $565-million line of credit to the Maldives during a visit to the Indian Ocean archipelago, as the two countries launched formal talks for a free-trade agreement. Modi is visiting the Maldives, known for its upmarket tourist resorts, to mark the 60th anniversary of its independence and diplomatic relations between the two countries. The announcement came during Modi's joint media statement with Maldives' President Mohamed Muizzu. The two-day visit is crucial to India's ambition to control the seas and shipping routes of the Indian Ocean in a race with its regional rival China. It also marks the further easing of diplomatic tensions between the two nations that followed the election of pro-China Muizzu in 2023. Regional powers India and China compete for influence in the archipelago nation, which is strategically located in the Indian Ocean. On Friday, Modi witnessed the exchange of agreements to cooperate in sectors such as fisheries, health, tourism and digital development. He also formally handed dozens of heavy vehicles to the Maldives' defense forces. "India is Maldives' closest neighbor. Maldives holds an important place in both India's neighborhood- first policy and ocean vision," Modi said. "India is also proud to be Maldives' most trusted friend.' The line of credit will be used for "infrastructure and development projects in line with the priorities of the people of the Maldives,' he said. "India will continue to support Maldives in developing its defense capabilities. Peace, stability and prosperity in the Indian Ocean region is our common goal," he added. During Muizzu's visit to India last October, India announced financial support to the cash-strapped Maldives in the form of a $100-million treasury bills rollover and the countries signed a $400-million currency swap agreement. Tensions between India and the Maldives grew since Muizzu, who favored closer ties with China, was elected in 2023 after defeating India-friendly incumbent Ibrahim Mohamed Solih. Leading up to the election, Muizzu had promised to expel Indian soldiers deployed in the Maldives to help with humanitarian assistance. Last year New Delhi replaced dozens of its soldiers in the Maldives with civilian experts.
