Bombing Suspect Sets Off Grenade During Kenya Raid

MOMBASA, Kenya (Reuters) - A man arrested by Kenyan police hunting accomplices in the bombing of an Israeli-owned Mombasa hotel set off a hand grenade in the city on Friday, seriously wounding himself and two policemen, police said.

Senior police officer Gerald Wanjama told Reuters the man was sitting in the back of a police van taking him to a police station when he detonated the grenade concealed on his body.

Police sources said they believed one of the policemen later died of his wounds. There was no immediate confirmation.

Police investigators said the policemen had been searching for accomplices in the suicide bombing of the Israeli-owned Paradise Hotel in November that killed at least 16 people including the three bombers.

Friday's blast is the latest blow to the east African country's vital tourism industry, which relies on golden Indian Ocean beaches centered on Mombasa, as well as wild game parks.

Another attack which the United States blames on al Qaeda was the 1998 bombing of the U.S. embassy in Nairobi which killed more than 200 people.

Kenyan police have carried out extensive arrests in Mombasa and Nairobi to tighten security since the November bombing.

Five men have been charged in connection with the Paradise Hotel attack, which occurred within minutes of a failed attempt to shoot down an Israeli airliner leaving Mombasa airport.

Wanjama said Friday's raid targeted five men occupying a house in Mombasa. Four of them evaded arrest.

Britain on May 15 stopped its airlines flying to Kenya citing terrorist threats, lifting the ban only in late June.

Earlier this year the United States and Britain also warned their citizens against non-essential travel to Kenya, citing imminent security threats. Britain later revoked its warning but the U.S. advisory remains in place.

The alerts were a major setback for the tourism industry, a pillar of Kenya's economy.

http://www.nationaudio.com/News/DailyNation/Today/News/News0208200362.html

Nairobi Daily Nation

Saturday, August 2, 2003

"Terror suspect kills two policemen in suicide blast"

By NGUMBAO KITHI

Two policeman and man had they just arrested died yesterday when the terrorist suspect detonated a hand grenade just outside Mombasa's Central police station.

All three died at a Mombasa hospital where they were taken with serious injuries.

A passer-by who suffered torso injuries was fighting for her life at the Coast general Hospital.

Moments after the incident, a large contingent of police officers arrived to comb the area for one other suspect who escaped.

Police said that shortly after the arrest, the suspect detonated hand grenades hidden in his trousers, as he chanted "Allah, Allah!".

A police source at the scene said the suspect, in his early 20s, was a dangerous man with links to a terrorist network. "Police have been trailing the man and only caught up with him some few minutes after five. But he blew himself up after the anti-terrorist police had arrested him and were taking him to the police station."

A statement released last evening by National Security minister Chris Murungaru detailed how police cordoned off a cyber-cafe to arrest two suspects. As they were being put into a police car, one of them detonated the grenade. In the confusion, the second suspect escaped.

While mourning the dead policemen, Dr Murungaru described the incident as a major breakthrough in the fight against terrorist cells in Kenya.

From the Kenya Times

http://www.kentimes.com/nwsstory/topstry.html

"TWO Police officers were yesterday killed and three others seriously injured when a suspected terrorist they had arrested blew himself up with a grenade in Mombasa yesterday evening.

Police reports said the suspect, arrested by police on suspicions that he was up to some ill motives, blew up the grenade moments after being hurled into a police landrover.

One officer died on the spot while the second one died while undergoing treatment at the Coast Provincial General Hospital where he had been rushed.

Officers from the anti-terrorist police unit had arrested the suspect, who they described as dangerous in Mombasa and took him to the Central Police Station for interrogation.

Upon reaching the station, the suspect is said to have told the officers that he was with a colleague who had been left behind. And as they boarded a police landrover, the man, of Arab looking, blew up the grenade that was stuck in his trousers.

The suspect suffered leg injuries and was immediately arrested by the police. Police said the suspect had been spotted loitering near Mamba Discotheque and Tembo Restaurant which were due to re-opening yesterday.

And as a group of police officers rushed to the Moi International Airport to seal it off, they encountered another suspicious looking woman of Arab origin whom they shot and seriously injured.

By last evening, a contingent of officers from the Anti-terrorist police unit, army and navy were hold up in a meeting.

Police sources hinted that the suspect was believed to have some links with the dreaded Al Qaeda network and could have been involved in the recent terrorist activities in the coastal town. ...

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