wrbones
05-17-03, 11:38 AM
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A1122-2003May16.html
By Emily Wax
Washington Post Foreign Service
Saturday, May 17, 2003; Page A16
NAIROBI, May 16 -- U.S. and British marines today combed Kenya's borders with Somalia and Sudan and monitored Western targets here in the capital as fears of an attack by a suspected al Qaeda operative caused nervousness at airports, embassies and foreign residences.
In what was described as a low-key but serious mission, an undisclosed number of troops were deployed to Kenya from posts in Djibouti and elsewhere around the Horn of Africa.
In Nairobi, home to more than 50,000 Westerners, U.S. Marines in plain clothes could be seen in the vicinity of embassies and so-called soft targets, including foreign residences clustered in several upscale neighborhoods and an outdoor shopping center frequented by Westerners. More than 1,800 U.S. troops are operating in the Horn of Africa as part of an anti-terrorism task force.
In an unprecedented move, Britain on Thursday suspended flights to and from its former colony. "Kenya is in a state of complete and utter lockdown," said a U.S. military source based in East Africa who asked not to be identified. "This threat is very serious and everyone is taking it that way."
Late today, the British government warned of "a clear terrorist threat" in Uganda, Ethiopia, Tanzania, Somalia, Eritrea and Djibouti.
"The advice to British citizens is keep a low profile and avoid places where [a] large number of foreigners spend time," said Mark Norton, head of press and public affairs for the British Embassy in Nairobi.
The precautions were taken as Fazul Abdullah Mohammed, a reputed planner with Osama bin Laden's al Qaeda network, was reported to be in Kenya this week. He is wanted in connection with the bombings of two U.S. embassies in East Africa in 1998 and with attacks in Mombasa, Kenya, on Nov. 28. Terrorism analysts say there is evidence he has moved back and forth between East and West Africa in recent years.
Mohammed is on the U.S. government's list of its 22 most wanted terrorists. He has been described by the FBI as the "head of al Qaeda's Kenyan cell" and a veteran of a bin Laden training camp in Afghanistan. According to evidence gathered after the embassy bombings, he shared a room in Nairobi with Wadih el-Hage, a Lebanese who became a naturalized U.S. citizen and worked for several years as bin Laden's personal secretary. A federal court in New York convicted Hage in 2001 for his role in the embassy bombings, which killed more than 200 in Nairobi and Dar es Salaam, Tanzania.
Mohammed went on to Liberia and toured the Sierra Leone diamond fields in March 1999 as part of a plan to funnel diamonds through West Africa, according to a European probe of al Qaeda financing.
Kenyans today said they were frustrated by the news that he was once again in the country, and expressed concern about the economic burden that another terrorism scare would place on this poor nation. Kenya's economy is heavily dependent on tourism, and almost a half-million visitors come here each year to take safaris and spend time on the country's soft beaches.
"It's a crazy thing and it's happening all over the world," said Mark Gathuri, manager of the beachfront Serena Hotel in Mombasa. "But our message is clear. We don't want Kenyans to be victims again."
The British Embassy's Norton, who said his office was in direct communication with a rattled Kenyan government, acknowledged that "Kenyans are disappointed and worried about the damage this will do to their tourism industry. But we are disappointed, too. I think in the end, though, everyone realizes the damage that would be done if there was an attack without a warning."
© 2003 The Washington Post Company
By Emily Wax
Washington Post Foreign Service
Saturday, May 17, 2003; Page A16
NAIROBI, May 16 -- U.S. and British marines today combed Kenya's borders with Somalia and Sudan and monitored Western targets here in the capital as fears of an attack by a suspected al Qaeda operative caused nervousness at airports, embassies and foreign residences.
In what was described as a low-key but serious mission, an undisclosed number of troops were deployed to Kenya from posts in Djibouti and elsewhere around the Horn of Africa.
In Nairobi, home to more than 50,000 Westerners, U.S. Marines in plain clothes could be seen in the vicinity of embassies and so-called soft targets, including foreign residences clustered in several upscale neighborhoods and an outdoor shopping center frequented by Westerners. More than 1,800 U.S. troops are operating in the Horn of Africa as part of an anti-terrorism task force.
In an unprecedented move, Britain on Thursday suspended flights to and from its former colony. "Kenya is in a state of complete and utter lockdown," said a U.S. military source based in East Africa who asked not to be identified. "This threat is very serious and everyone is taking it that way."
Late today, the British government warned of "a clear terrorist threat" in Uganda, Ethiopia, Tanzania, Somalia, Eritrea and Djibouti.
"The advice to British citizens is keep a low profile and avoid places where [a] large number of foreigners spend time," said Mark Norton, head of press and public affairs for the British Embassy in Nairobi.
The precautions were taken as Fazul Abdullah Mohammed, a reputed planner with Osama bin Laden's al Qaeda network, was reported to be in Kenya this week. He is wanted in connection with the bombings of two U.S. embassies in East Africa in 1998 and with attacks in Mombasa, Kenya, on Nov. 28. Terrorism analysts say there is evidence he has moved back and forth between East and West Africa in recent years.
Mohammed is on the U.S. government's list of its 22 most wanted terrorists. He has been described by the FBI as the "head of al Qaeda's Kenyan cell" and a veteran of a bin Laden training camp in Afghanistan. According to evidence gathered after the embassy bombings, he shared a room in Nairobi with Wadih el-Hage, a Lebanese who became a naturalized U.S. citizen and worked for several years as bin Laden's personal secretary. A federal court in New York convicted Hage in 2001 for his role in the embassy bombings, which killed more than 200 in Nairobi and Dar es Salaam, Tanzania.
Mohammed went on to Liberia and toured the Sierra Leone diamond fields in March 1999 as part of a plan to funnel diamonds through West Africa, according to a European probe of al Qaeda financing.
Kenyans today said they were frustrated by the news that he was once again in the country, and expressed concern about the economic burden that another terrorism scare would place on this poor nation. Kenya's economy is heavily dependent on tourism, and almost a half-million visitors come here each year to take safaris and spend time on the country's soft beaches.
"It's a crazy thing and it's happening all over the world," said Mark Gathuri, manager of the beachfront Serena Hotel in Mombasa. "But our message is clear. We don't want Kenyans to be victims again."
The British Embassy's Norton, who said his office was in direct communication with a rattled Kenyan government, acknowledged that "Kenyans are disappointed and worried about the damage this will do to their tourism industry. But we are disappointed, too. I think in the end, though, everyone realizes the damage that would be done if there was an attack without a warning."
© 2003 The Washington Post Company