KENYA: KENYAN POLICE PUBLISH COMPUTER-GENERATED IMAGES OF TWO MEN SUSPECTED OF INVOVLEMENT RECENT ATTACKS ON ISRAELIS IN MOMBASSA

Record ID: 645766

  • Title: KENYA: KENYAN POLICE PUBLISH COMPUTER-GENERATED IMAGES OF TWO MEN SUSPECTED OF INVOVLEMENT RECENT ATTACKS ON ISRAELIS IN MOMBASSA
  • Date: 9th December 2002
  • Summary: (EU) MOMBASA, KENYA (DECEMBER 9, 2002) (REUTERS) SCU: POLICE HOLDING PICTURE OF ONE OF THE TWO SUSPECTS OF THE ATTACKS ON ISRAELI TARGETS SCU: SENIOR KENYAN POLICE OFFICER WILLIAM LANGAT SAYING: "Indeed we are regarding them as the prime suspects." CLOSEUPS OF PICTURE OF OTHER SUSPECT SCU: LANGAT TALKING TO MEDIA
  • Embargoed: 24th December 2002 12:00
  • Keywords:
  • Location: MOMBASA, KENYA
  • Country: Kenya
  • Topics: Crime / Law Enforcement
  • Reuters ID: LVA5FCOHSP4ZUXU7NDXY8OFCZJCC
  • Story Text: Kenyan police have published computer-generated images of two men suspected of involvement in two recent attacks targeting Israelis near Mombasa.
    On November 28, a suicide bombing at an Israeli-owned hotel near the Kenyan resort of Mombasa killed 16 people, including the three attackers. A failed missile attack on an Israeli airliner taking off from Mombasa airport with 261 passengers was carried out at about the same time.
    Senior police officer William Langat on Monday (December 9) offered a reward of 500,000 shillings (6,276 U.S dollars), a large sum in Kenya, for information leading to the identification of the two.
    Langat said the two simulations were both of Arabs, as he unveiled the black and white pictures at a news conference in the Indian Ocean port city, adding "Indeed we are regarding them as the prime suspects."
    He said the images were computer simulations based on witnesses' descriptions of two suspects, both aged 30-45.
    Langat declined to say at which attack the two suspects were seen.
    One suspect was shown with a bushy beard, thick eyebrows and some hair loss. The other, smiling faintly, is mostly bald with just a little hair above the forehead.
    He said the simulations had been shared with the FBI (U.S.
    Federal Bureau of Information) but they had not said whether they match the suspects they had been tracking in connection with terrorist activities.
    Kenyan authorities were said to be already holding two people in connection with the suicide attack. Their nationality has not been disclosed.
    Witnesses of the hotel bombing spoke of bloodied survivors staggering to the beach from the shattered Mombasa Paradise resort hotel, screaming for water. Most of the guests at the hotel were believed to be Israelis.
    Police said the attackers rammed their car into the hotel reception, killing themselves. Eighty people were wounded, Kenya's ambassador to Israel said.
    Most of the wreckage of the bombers' car was left 15 metres (yards) from the entrance. A human jaw lay on the ground near the mangled metal.
    A senior hospital official said the injured were "all foreign (white) and have different injuries. Some have bruises, others have deep cuts and some have metal objects stuck in their bodies."
    A group calling itself the Army of Palestine said it carried out the attacks to mark the anniversary of the 1947 United Nations resolution partitioning Palestine between Arabs and Jews.
    Kenya's coastal area has a large Muslim population with traditional links to Saudi Arabia and Yemen.
    The Paradise hotel outside Mombasa was used by Israelis and other foreign tourists and Israeli media reports said it was Israeli-owned.
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