US gives police list of 200 suspected terrorists

The FBI on Monday gave Kenyan police a list of 200 suspects wanted in connection with the terrorist attacks on New York and Washington on 11 September, the 'Daily Nation' reported on Tuesday. The US is stepping up its hunt across Africa for suspects wanted in connection with their investigation into the attacks. Uganda and Tanzania, along with South Africa, have also been given long lists of names believed to be linked to the prime suspect behind the attacks, the Saudi-born militant, Osama Bin Laden.

The list of suspects was reportedly being examined by the Nairobi office of the international criminal police agency Interpol. US investigators are also reported to be scrutinising banking transactions in Kenya's second city of Mombasa. Regional border controls have also been tightened. More than 200 people died in bomb attacks on US embassies in Kenya and Tanzania in 1998, which were also linked to Bin Laden.

South Africa previously helped US intelligence track down a Tanzanian, Khalfan Mohamed, who was traced through an asylum application following the embassy bombings. He received a life sentence earlier this year for the bombing of the Dar es Salam embassy. Meanwhile, Muslim leaders in Mombasa complained of harassment by FBI agents. "We very much oppose those FBI leaders in Kenya, who come here to humiliate Muslims as they did in 1998, we will not accept," Kenyan Television Network quoted Iman Munir Mazrui as saying.

The Kenyan government has reiterated that it does not harbour organisations or individuals associated with the terror attacks. Speaking in Nairobi on Monday, Peter Odoyo, an assistant minister for foreign affairs and international cooperation, dismissed reports that Bin Laden owned an ostrich farm in Kenya, among other business interests. "Kenya encourages foreign investment, and we should not assume that any Arab investment in Kenya is Osama's. Not every Arab is a terrorist," he said. Odoyo added that he was planning to bring Kenyan students studying in Pakistan back home soon for security reasons.