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CNN Live At Daybreak

Israel Requests Evidence From Kenyan Attacks for Analysis

Aired December 02, 2002 - 05:33   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.


CAROL COSTELLO, CNN ANCHOR: Let's get back to Kenya and the attacks there. Israelis were clearly targeted by the terrorists, so Israel wants to lead the investigation.
Our Jerrold Kessel is following developments from Jerusalem. He joins us live -- that seems pretty logical, Jerrold, that Israel should lead the investigation.

JERROLD KESSEL, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, and that's what the Israelis believe, Carol. But they say they're working very closely, both with the Kenyans and with American investigators down there in Mombasa to come up with conclusive evidence of who exactly carried out that twin barreled attack on Israeli targets, both on the commercial aircraft and on the hotel north of Mombasa.

And the Israelis saying as the army chief of -- the defense minister said yesterday that it was, all evidence was pointing to an al Qaeda link, although they say at this stage they have no conclusive evidence in that direction. The Israelis are emphatic that that will come out of this investigation eventually, however or whatever form it takes.

There's another aspect to the Israeli inquiry, if you like, that's been going on since Thursday's double barreled attack, and that is the question of why Israel had no foreknowledge and why it didn't act on, if there was information, intelligence information out there. We do know that the Australians, that the Germans had been warning about the possibility of a terror attack in Kenya in Mombasa, specifically. The Israelis say they had no specific warning. They say there was some 30 to 40 warnings, general warnings about attacks that al Qaeda would indulge in, if you like, around the international community, targeting soft targets, as the Israelis see it. But no specific warning, they say, about Mombasa and specifically about the Israelis there.

But the Israelis a little bit concerned that perhaps they should have had a good deal more intelligence information in advance of those attacks -- Carol.

COSTELLO: Jerrold Kessel from Jerusalem, thanks.

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Aired December 2, 2002 - 05:33   ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
CAROL COSTELLO, CNN ANCHOR: Let's get back to Kenya and the attacks there. Israelis were clearly targeted by the terrorists, so Israel wants to lead the investigation.
Our Jerrold Kessel is following developments from Jerusalem. He joins us live -- that seems pretty logical, Jerrold, that Israel should lead the investigation.

JERROLD KESSEL, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, and that's what the Israelis believe, Carol. But they say they're working very closely, both with the Kenyans and with American investigators down there in Mombasa to come up with conclusive evidence of who exactly carried out that twin barreled attack on Israeli targets, both on the commercial aircraft and on the hotel north of Mombasa.

And the Israelis saying as the army chief of -- the defense minister said yesterday that it was, all evidence was pointing to an al Qaeda link, although they say at this stage they have no conclusive evidence in that direction. The Israelis are emphatic that that will come out of this investigation eventually, however or whatever form it takes.

There's another aspect to the Israeli inquiry, if you like, that's been going on since Thursday's double barreled attack, and that is the question of why Israel had no foreknowledge and why it didn't act on, if there was information, intelligence information out there. We do know that the Australians, that the Germans had been warning about the possibility of a terror attack in Kenya in Mombasa, specifically. The Israelis say they had no specific warning. They say there was some 30 to 40 warnings, general warnings about attacks that al Qaeda would indulge in, if you like, around the international community, targeting soft targets, as the Israelis see it. But no specific warning, they say, about Mombasa and specifically about the Israelis there.

But the Israelis a little bit concerned that perhaps they should have had a good deal more intelligence information in advance of those attacks -- Carol.

COSTELLO: Jerrold Kessel from Jerusalem, thanks.

TO ORDER A VIDEO OF THIS TRANSCRIPT, PLEASE CALL 800-CNN-NEWS OR USE OUR SECURE ONLINE ORDER FORM LOCATED AT www.fdch.com