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CNN Sunday Morning
Kenyan Residents Fear War
Aired February 10, 2002 - 09:11 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
MILES O'BRIEN, CNN ANCHOR: The United States and Kenya are conducting joint military exercises. The ground and air maneuvers are taking place in a bay about 80 miles south of Kenya's border with Somalia, and that's fueling fears among local residents, including many Muslims, the exercise could be a prelude to an attack on Somalia. CNN'S Catherine Bond has more.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
CATHERINE BOND, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice over): A remote Kenyan island, an unlikely location for a project involving U.S. military personnel. American marines lending a hand to help build new school classrooms in a conservative Muslim community.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I don't really think too much of what I'm doing it for. It keeps me busy.
BOND: Right close by, a joint U.S.-Kenyan military exercise. American helicopters flying from assault ships to a Kenyan navy base. On that though, the marines are tightlipped. Are you also participating in the military exercises that are going on on the mainland just across from here?
UNIDENTIFIED MARINE: Right now ma'am, my only concern is building these houses. I don't know anything about that.
BOND: The headmaster of this school says he was first told the U.S. military exercise would be taking place here more than a year ago. And what does this community feel about it?
TWAHA SHAHIB: We are very happy about it because our community is not all that well off. They are poor somehow.
BOND: Not everyone's happy though.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: We love bin Laden.
BOND: On another island, tour guides worry the exercise could frighten away tourists.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Americans, they come here to spoil our country.
BOND: Identity searches by U.S. Marines and the noise of helicopters also bothers local people.
"We're not used to helicopters" says this fisherman. "We're used to peace and calm."
The Kenyan Government, they say, hasn't told them what is going on.
OMAR MUALANA, TEACHER: A lot of people think it's maybe it's a preparation to attack Somalia. It has been in the news always.
BOND: These military exercises are just 60 miles or 100 kilometers south of Kenya's border with Somalia, and involve the sort of tactics special marine units might use if the Bush Administration found anything or anyone to target there.
JEFFREY LANDIS, U.S. MARINE CORPS: I think it would be inappropriate to speculate on what comes next in the War on Terrorism, but I would say that our unit is a flexible, rapid response force, capable of a broad array of missions and we're ready when needed.
BOND: But the Bush Administration hasn't yet said it's found any current links to al Qaeda in Somalia. So this island may be the closest these U.S. Marines get to Somalia for now. Catherine Bond, CNN, Pate Island, Kenya.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
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