Murder charge for Kenya hotel bombing
At least four people will be charged with murder this week in connection with last November’s bombing of an Israeli hotel in Kenya, a top judicial official said on Monday.
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| The Mombasa bombing left 16 people dead |
The United States says al-Qaeda network was behind the attack on the Paradise Hotel in the Indian Ocean port of Mombasa.
“They will be arraigned in court tomorrow morning (Tuesday), or the day after. The offence will be the charge of murder,” said Director of Public Prosecution Phillip Murgor.
“Those who will be charged were earlier charged on lesser offences, but it has emerged that they were involved in the actual incident”, he said.
The attack killed 10 Kenyans, three Israelis and the three bombers who carried out the attack.
Police swoop
Earlier in the day, Kenyan authorities questioned at least 40 suspects, who were arrested in a massive swoop over the weekend.
“We are investigating them to see if they have any links to terrorism”, Justice Assistant Minister Robinson Githae told AFP.
More than 100 people from Eastleigh, a district notorious for sheltering criminals in capital Nairobi’s north-eastern suburb, were arrested.
The district is mainly inhabited by Kenyan Somalis and refugees from Somalia.
The arrests took place a day after the US closed its embassy in the country, citing a “possible, imminent terrorist” threat.