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Al-Qaida Claims Responsibility for Kenya Attacks - 2002-12-08


Al-Qaida is claiming responsibility for last month's attacks against an Israeli-owned hotel and passenger jet in Kenya.

In a voice recording aired by Qatar-based al-Jazeera television, al-Qaida spokesman Sulaiman Abu Ghaith claimed responsibility for the attacks and threatened more against Israeli and U-S targets. The recording was also posted on an Islamist website (jehadlonline-dot-org).

He says what he called the Christian-Jewish alliance will no longer be immune from attack anywhere. Mr. Abu Gaith says al-Qaida will strike at vital installations and strategic interests.

Mr. Abu Ghaith is one of the leading al-Qaida members being sought by U-S authorities and has been in hiding since the United States launched its attack on Afghanistan last October.

Three Israelis and 10 Kenyans were killed when suicide bombers drove a truck loaded with explosives into an Israeli-owned resort hotel near Mombasa on November 28th.

Shortly after, attackers using shoulder-held launchers fired two missiles, missing a plane owned by Israel's Arkia airlines as the jetliner took off from Mombasa.

Kenyan Deputy Police Commissioner, William Langat, said today (Sunday) that since the bombing, the country has stepped up security and the navy is intensively patrolling the coastal waters. He said Kenya was on what he termed "top alert", with police dispatched across the country to areas where foreign interests are located.

Meanwhile, Israel has received intelligence information that the al-Qaida network is planning attacks against Jews and Israelis in the Czech capital of Prague.

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However, the Israeli Foreign Ministry has not issued a travel warning for the Czech Republic.

(CR-Salmon, AFP, Reuters, prev) ## EAP/JB/eh

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