International community condemns terror attacks

The international community has poured condemnation over this week's coordinated terrorist attacks against Israeli targets in Kenya. At least 16 people, mostly Kenyans, were killed and about 80 injured when a car bomb exploded in an Israeli-owned hotel, located on Kenya's Indian Ocean coast, early on Thursday. Two Israeli adults and two children were among the dead, according to local media reports. The blast coincided with a missile attack on an Israeli charter airliner which was taking off from the Mombasa international airport with 261 passengers on board. The missiles, however, missed the aircraft, which later landed safely in Tel Aviv. Condemning the attacks, Terje Roed-Larsen, the United Nations coordinator for the Middle East peace process, said the latest attacks served to "harm not only the prospects of a political solution to the Middle East conflict but also the legitimate Palestinian national ambition". A number of governments, including Russia, France and the United States, have also voiced strong condemnations of the attack, and called for closer cooperation in fighting international terrorism. The Kenyan government, for its part, gave its condolences to the families of the victims of the "unfortunate incident perpetrated by cowardly people who have no value for human life". It said in a statement signed by the country's vice-president, Musalia Mudavadi, that security had been tightened throughout the country, and all measures had been taken to ensure the safety of "our people as well as visitors". "The government would like to emphasise that Kenya is a peaceful country, and condemns the perpetrators of this heinous acts for using our soil to carry out their evil activities. Kenya believes that dialogue should form the basis of resolving disputes," Mudavadi said. According to eyewitness accounts, a four-wheel-drive vehicle with three men on board crashed through the barrier outside the Paradise Hotel, located at Kikambala, some 16 km north of Mombasa, and rammed into the hotel's lobby seconds before the explosion which blew up the hotel and the vehicle. The explosion reportedly took place minutes after some 60 tourists from Israel had checked into the hotel. Most of the dead were said to be traditional dancers who had entertained the new arrivals in the lobby. The attacks shocked the Kenyan nation, which is still recovering from the 1998 terrorist attacks on the United States embassy in the capital, Nairobi, in which 250 people, mostly Kenyans, were killed. Initial intelligence from Kenyan and Israeli government officials has indicated that the attacks were carried out by the Al-Qaeda terrorist network, suspected to have masterminded both the 1998 attack on the US embassy, and the 11 September 2001 attacks in the United States. However, unconfirmed reports say a group calling itself the Army of Palestine has claimed responsibility for Thursday's attacks. The previously unheard of group said it had carried out the attacks to mark the 1947 United Nations resolution, which partitioned Palestine between Arabs and Jews, Reuters reported. The group said it had sent two of its groups of attackers to Kenya to "make the world hear once again the voice of Palestinian refugees and to cast a light on Zionist terrorism in West Bank and Gaza", the agency said. Kenyan police on Thursday said they had arrested two individuals in connection with the attack, who were being questioned, but gave no further details of their identities. They said two shoulder missile launchers and casings had been found in the Changamwe area of Mombasa, near the airport. The United States and Israeli governments have sent teams of security officials to help in the investigations. Meanwhile, the Israeli government has began to began to evacuate victims of Thursday's attack on the hotel, according to media reports.