16 Killed in Kenya Bombing, Al-Qaeda Link Hinted

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Last updated at: (Beijing Time) Friday, November 29, 2002

16 Killed in Kenya Bombing, Al-Qaeda Link Hinted

Kenyan Vice-President Musalia Mudavadi said Thursday that the terrorists who blasted a tourist hotel near the port city of Mombasa may be linked to the al-Qaeda network.

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Kenyan Vice-President Musalia Mudavadi said Thursday that the terrorists who blasted a tourist hotel near the port city of Mombasa may be linked to the al-Qaeda network.

Speaking when visiting the explosion site at the Israeli-run Paradise Hotel 25 km north of Mombasa , Mudavadi said "you can't rule out the group that struck at us in 1998."

"It is a sheer act of terrorism," he added.

As many as 16 people are believed dead in the explosion at 8:30a.m. (0530 GMT) on Thursday in Mombasa.

Kenyan police said earlier that two people of Arab descent werearrested in Mombasa Thursday following the suicide bombing of the hotel and the missile attack on an Israeli jetliner.

But the vice president did not give details of the suspected the perpetrators of the bombing.

In August 1998, an bomb attack against the US embassy in Nairobi killed more than 200 people and wounded about 5,000 others.

It has since been blamed on the al-Qaeda network of Saudi billionaire Osama bin Laden.

16 people killed in explosion in Mombasa

As many as 16 people are confirmed dead in the explosion at 8:30 a.m. (0530 GMT) on Thursday in a hotel in Mombasa, a coastal city of Kenya, hotel director told Xinhua.

Among the dead, there are 10 local residents, three Israelis including a brother and a sister, and three suicide bombers, said Sulami Yehuda, director of Paradise Hotel.

Yehuda said witnesses told him that a light plane was seen droptwo to three explosives almost at the same when the car with bomb drove to the place only meters away from the reception of the hotel. But this has not been confirmed.

After the blast, most of the hotel rooms were burnt and some were totally damaged.

Kenyan Coast Provincial police have arrested two suspects in Mombasa and the Israeli embassy in Kenya has been completely sealed off.

Kenyan Vice President Musalia Mudavadi, accompanied with some government officials, is at the hotel to estimate the damages.

Kenya condemns all terrorist acts on innocent people: president

Visiting Kenyan President Daniel arap Moi said on Thursday in Kampala that his country condemns all terrorist acts on innocent people.

Speaking at a joint press conference at Ugandan State House in Kampala on Thursday afternoon before concluding his two-day visit to Uganda, Moi said "I have learnt this morning about the terrorist attack on one of our hotels in Mombasa, and as you know,Kenya will fight the attackers."

"Kenya will fight those behind terrorist attack on Mombasa," the present told journalists.

"Kenya will do everything in its means to stop such acts with or without the assistance of her counterparts in the war against terrorism," he stressed.

On the cooperation in the east African region, Moi said that the East African Community should strengthen its political, socialand economic relations so that the region could develop quickly.

Speaking at the joint press conference, Ugandan President Yoweri Museveni said that he will abide by the constitution as thecountry's supreme laws as far as his retirement is concerned.

Moi left Uganda after concluding his two-day special farewell visit to Uganda.

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