Thursday, June 21, 2007
The Kenyan police have released sketched images of two prime suspects of last week's explosion in the capital of Nairobi, which killed one person and injured 37 others.
Police spokesman Eric Kiraithe said on Thursday the two suspects whose images were recollected through their accomplices' confessions and "helps"are being sought.
"We believe the drawings bear very close likeness to two people known to have escaped from the scene just before the incident," Kiraithe said in a statement.
He also said the police have been forced to release the image of a man who died in the explosion that sent rush-hour commuters ducking for cover in Nairobi's busiest streets.
The police spokesman said investigators have been unable to identify him, forcing them to seek expert assistance to come up with his image.
"We also wish to circulate a drawing of the victim of the explosion with a view of having members of public assist in identifying the deceased," he said.
He said the two suspects being sought are Somalis in their 30s and are said to have been involved in the manufacture and ferrying of the non-conventional bomb to the restaurant where it exploded.
Sources said investigators have sent samples of the debris collected from the scene to South Africa for further forensic analysis.
The investigators want to know the material used in the manufacture of the explosive, which police believe was meant to explode either in a bus or at the airport.
"We have tightened security in country's exit points because we believe the two suspects are still in the country," said Kiraithe.
The June 11 mysterious explosion, which witnesses described as a bomb, rocked downtown Nairobi on Monday morning causing panic along one of the busiest streets, around 8:15 a.m.(0515 GMT) during the peak hours.
Witnesses said three men carrying a small bomb tried to squeeze onto a crowded bus headed toward the airport, but when they were pushed off by other passengers, the bomb exploded in one of the men's hands.
Police have been holding a 41-year-old Mohammed Farah Hirsi who surrendered on Sunday after the police circulated his photograph but he has denied involvement in the blast.
Police have not yet established the motive for or the cause of blast outside a small restaurant near one of Nairobi's oldest hotels, the Ambassador.
No one has claimed responsibility for the explosion and the man who was killed has yet to be identified.
Kiraithe said they have contacted the global anti-crime agency, Interpol, to help probe the blast which has sent panic among Kenyan neighbors -- Tanzania and Uganda.
Initial reports suggest a suicide bomber carried out the attack but this has not been confirmed by the police who were quick to play down rumors that the blast was a terrorist attack.
The blast was close to the site of the 1998 U.S.embassy bombing which killed more than 200 people and injured thousands of others.
Source: Xinhua, June 21, 2007