Return to Transcripts main page
CNN Live At Daybreak
Al Qaeda Claim to Kenya Attacks Appears on Several Web Sites
Aired December 03, 2002 - 05:05 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: And turning now to that alleged claim from al Qaeda that it was behind those suicide bombings in Mombasa, Kenya.
Our Ben Wedeman is following the story from Mombasa and he joins us live with more -- Ben, what can you tell us?
BEN WEDEMAN, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Yes, Carol, those, that claim of responsibility from al Qaeda appearing on several Web sites, saying that al Qaeda fighters have returned to the place they struck before. They're referring to the 1998 bombings of the U.S. embassies in Tanzania and Kenya. And in that statement, they said they can strike whenever and wherever they would like.
Now, U.S. officials are giving these claims some responsibility -- credibility, that is, but there's no way really as they are to confirm that they actually did come from al Qaeda. But there's another bit of information that does certainly indicate some involvement by al Qaeda. The launchers used to fire those missiles at the Israeli jetliner that was leaving Mombasa last Thursday and narrowly missed it, apparently those launchers have serial numbers very close to a missile launcher used to fire a missile at a U.S. Air Force aircraft outside the Prince Sultan Air Base in Saudi Arabia last May. That rocket apparently was fired by a Sudanese national with very close ties to al Qaeda.
Now, more indications of possible al Qaeda involvement come in this newspaper, "The Nation," from Kenya, saying that four warnings were received by Kenyan officials earlier this year about possible attacks here. Their indications, according to this newspaper report, were that al Qaeda was involved. And certainly U.S. and Israeli intelligence sources are giving these high credence. Increasing, they do believe that al Qaeda was involved in the attacks in Mombasa last week and attention very much focused on one individual by the name of Fazul Abdullah Mohammed. He is a Kenyan national born in the Comoros Islands in the Indian Ocean. He apparently was considered to be the ground coordinator for the East African embassy bombings in 1998.
Now, this individual is also believed to be an explosives expert who was trained in al Qaeda camps in Afghanistan in the early '90s. It is also said that he was involved in some of the fighting against U.N. troops in Somalia in 1993.
So at that point, that's where the investigation stands. Increasingly it does look like al Qaeda was involved -- Carol.
COSTELLO: I know this Web site is usually credible, but isn't it unusual for al Qaeda to come out and announce to the world that it's attacked something?
WEDEMAN: Not unusual. It has happened in the past, and certainly in this case they may want to just prove that they're out there and still operating. For instance, in the Bali bombing it did take quite some time for any connection to be made, and still there's some doubt about it. And we also have to take into account that it is always possible that claims are made and that claims are baseless. For instance, shortly after last week's bombings here in Mombasa, a claim was received in Beirut from a group calling itself the Army of Palestine. Those claims not necessarily credible because it's an organization no one has ever heard of before.
In this case, these claims were made on Web sites that have in the past been the source of claims of responsibility -- Carol.
COSTELLO: Thanks for clarifying.
Ben Wedeman reporting live for us.
Al Qaeda and its claims regarding the attacks in Kenya are up for discussion just about two hours from now. Michael O'Hanlon of the Brookings Institute is the guest on AMERICAN MORNING WITH PAULA ZAHN. That airs at 7:15 Eastern time.
TO ORDER A VIDEO OF THIS TRANSCRIPT, PLEASE CALL 800-CNN-NEWS OR USE OUR SECURE ONLINE ORDER FORM LOCATED AT www.fdch.com
Sites>
Aired December 3, 2002 - 05:05 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
CAROL COSTELLO, CNN ANCHOR: And turning now to that alleged claim from al Qaeda that it was behind those suicide bombings in Mombasa, Kenya.
Our Ben Wedeman is following the story from Mombasa and he joins us live with more -- Ben, what can you tell us?
BEN WEDEMAN, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Yes, Carol, those, that claim of responsibility from al Qaeda appearing on several Web sites, saying that al Qaeda fighters have returned to the place they struck before. They're referring to the 1998 bombings of the U.S. embassies in Tanzania and Kenya. And in that statement, they said they can strike whenever and wherever they would like.
Now, U.S. officials are giving these claims some responsibility -- credibility, that is, but there's no way really as they are to confirm that they actually did come from al Qaeda. But there's another bit of information that does certainly indicate some involvement by al Qaeda. The launchers used to fire those missiles at the Israeli jetliner that was leaving Mombasa last Thursday and narrowly missed it, apparently those launchers have serial numbers very close to a missile launcher used to fire a missile at a U.S. Air Force aircraft outside the Prince Sultan Air Base in Saudi Arabia last May. That rocket apparently was fired by a Sudanese national with very close ties to al Qaeda.
Now, more indications of possible al Qaeda involvement come in this newspaper, "The Nation," from Kenya, saying that four warnings were received by Kenyan officials earlier this year about possible attacks here. Their indications, according to this newspaper report, were that al Qaeda was involved. And certainly U.S. and Israeli intelligence sources are giving these high credence. Increasing, they do believe that al Qaeda was involved in the attacks in Mombasa last week and attention very much focused on one individual by the name of Fazul Abdullah Mohammed. He is a Kenyan national born in the Comoros Islands in the Indian Ocean. He apparently was considered to be the ground coordinator for the East African embassy bombings in 1998.
Now, this individual is also believed to be an explosives expert who was trained in al Qaeda camps in Afghanistan in the early '90s. It is also said that he was involved in some of the fighting against U.N. troops in Somalia in 1993.
So at that point, that's where the investigation stands. Increasingly it does look like al Qaeda was involved -- Carol.
COSTELLO: I know this Web site is usually credible, but isn't it unusual for al Qaeda to come out and announce to the world that it's attacked something?
WEDEMAN: Not unusual. It has happened in the past, and certainly in this case they may want to just prove that they're out there and still operating. For instance, in the Bali bombing it did take quite some time for any connection to be made, and still there's some doubt about it. And we also have to take into account that it is always possible that claims are made and that claims are baseless. For instance, shortly after last week's bombings here in Mombasa, a claim was received in Beirut from a group calling itself the Army of Palestine. Those claims not necessarily credible because it's an organization no one has ever heard of before.
In this case, these claims were made on Web sites that have in the past been the source of claims of responsibility -- Carol.
COSTELLO: Thanks for clarifying.
Ben Wedeman reporting live for us.
Al Qaeda and its claims regarding the attacks in Kenya are up for discussion just about two hours from now. Michael O'Hanlon of the Brookings Institute is the guest on AMERICAN MORNING WITH PAULA ZAHN. That airs at 7:15 Eastern time.
TO ORDER A VIDEO OF THIS TRANSCRIPT, PLEASE CALL 800-CNN-NEWS OR USE OUR SECURE ONLINE ORDER FORM LOCATED AT www.fdch.com
Sites>
