Terrorist linked to al-Qaeda

2003-08-04 19:18

Nairobi - Two suspected terrorists, including one who killed himself as he was being arrested last week, were part of Osama bin Laden's al-Qaeda network, the United States Embassy said on Monday.

A police officer was also killed in the arrest, and several people were injured.

The Kenyan police were "swift and fearless in apprehending individuals with evident ties to the al-Qaeda terror network", the embassy said in statement. Al-Qaeda, the network established by Saudi-born Islamic militant Osama bin Laden, is believed to have a significant presence in eastern Africa.

But the statement did not provide details of the suspects' alleged ties to al-Qaeda and did not identify either man.

It is not clear whether the suspects were wanted in connection with attacks in Kenya last November on vacationing Israelis, which killed three Israelis and at least 10 Kenyans, or the 1998 car bombing of the US Embassy in Nairobi, in which 219 people, including 12 Americans, were killed.

Al-Qaida is believed to have been behind both attacks.

The suspect, who remains in Kenyan custody, was arrested early August 1 in Kenya's Indian Ocean port of Mombasa.

Acting on information he provided, Kenyan police nabbed the other suspect later that day at the edge of the maze-like warren of alleys in the city's Old Town.

But as he was being taken into custody, the suspect reportedly detonated a grenade, killing himself and fatally injuring the policeman.

A third suspect, who was also being arrested, managed to escape in the ensuing chaos.

The incident took place just metres from Mombasa's Central Police Station.

Witnesses described the man as "Arab-looking" and said he had been in the neighbourhood for weeks, perhaps longer.

Centuries ago, Muslim traders from the Arabian peninsula and the Indian sub-continent established Mombasa and other ports along the coast of eastern Africa, which remains home to hundreds of thousands of people of Arab descent.

Kenya's Muslim population is thought to number between 5% of 15% of the country's 30 million people.

US officials say some of the militants in al-Qaeda's eastern African network believed to stretch from Somalia to Tanzania are homegrown radicals.

Outside pressure has forced Kenya to step up efforts to fight terrorism; so far five Kenyan men have been charged with murder in connection with the November attack. - Sapa-AP

- SAPA