Sulaiman Abu Ghaith left Kuwait at the end of the 2000 school year for Afghanistan, according to Walid Tabtabai, a Kuwaiti lawmaker and acquaintance of Abu Ghaith.

Tabtabai said Abu Ghaith's family had been with him in Afghanistan but had since returned to Kuwait. Their exact whereabouts were unknown.

On Tuesday, Abu Ghaith, believed to be in his mid-30s, appeared on the Arabic satellite station Al-Jazeera to deliver a message on behalf of bin Laden's al-Qaida terrorist network. He praised the Sept. 11 terror attacks on the United States and warned there would be more.

"The Americans must know that the storm of airplanes will not stop, God willing, and there are thousands of young people who are as keen about death as Americans are about life," Abu Ghaith said Tuesday.

He called on every Muslim to join the fight against the United States, saying that "jihad is a duty."

It was the second time Abu Ghaith had appeared in a videotaped address since the bombings. On the day of the attacks, he appeared in another videotape together with bin Laden _ the suspected mastermind of the attacks in New York and Washington, which left more than 5,500 people dead or missing.

Bin Laden, a Saudi dissident, has called for U.S. troops to leave Saudi Arabia, home of Islam's holiest shrines. The troops have been stationed there since the 1991 Persian Gulf War when they liberated neighboring Kuwait from a seven-month Iraqi occupation.

Several people who knew Abu Ghaith said they were surprised that he had so quickly risen through the al-Qaida ranks.

"(He) is a quiet person whom you wouldn't expect to become a leader, but he is very enthusiastic about Muslim causes," Tabtabai said.

Abu Ghaith had preached at a Kuwaiti mosque until he was banned for criticizing Kuwait's 1962 constitution, Tabtabai said. He is apparently opposed to any form of law besides strict Islamic law.

Kuwait's foreign minister, Sheik Sabah Al Ahmed Al Sabah, described Abu Ghaith as a "traitor" and a "criminal."

The Kuwait News Agency quoted Al Sabah as saying Abu Ghaith was being stripped of his citizenship because he was "involved in the recent terrorist attacks." Al Sabah said Kuwait "disavows" itself from the "terrorist acts he committed.

Abu Ghaith is not believed to have been a member of any of Kuwait's Muslim fundamentalist movements. He became known to Kuwaitis after the terror attacks, when the local daily Al-Rai Al-Amm published a religious edict he had written that called on Muslims to fight "Jews, Americans and all their allies."

"The man turns out to be a big shot, an information minister," political analyst Ayed al-Manna said. "I'm sure Kuwait sees him as a pest."