Return to Transcripts main page
American Morning
Sharon Vowing to Track Down Those Responsible for Latest Attacks
Aired November 29, 2002 - 07:32 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.
BILL HEMMER, CNN ANCHOR: Back to Israel right now. The prime minister, Ariel Sharon, vowing to track down those responsible for the latest attacks against Israelis as violence overseas and at home yesterday overshadowed the primary elections.
To Jerusalem and Mike Hanna, who joins us now with more on the activities of today -- Mike, good afternoon to you there.
MIKE HANNA, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, Bill, in the wake of that attack in Kenya, Israel sent a fleet of aircraft overnight to pick up the many Israeli wounded and to ferry back those tourists in Kenya who wanted to return following the suicide bomb attack at the Paradise Hotel just north of Mombasa. Also, bringing back on those Israeli aircraft the bodies of three Israelis who were killed in that suicide bomb attack. Among those killed, two children.
But Ariel Sharon insisted that Likud primary elections in Israel go ahead despite the attacks in Kenya and despite the fact that there was an attack in northern Israel that claimed six lives. This a very important primary, deciding who will lead the Likud Party into elections in Israel in January. The fight between Ariel Sharon and his foreign minister, Benjamin Netanyahu, was one very convincingly by Sharon by some 20 percentage points.
But Sharon said it was not a day for celebration and he used the occasion of his victory speech to make clear that Israel would find and bring to punishment those responsible for the attacks in Kenya.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
ARIEL SHARON, ISRAELI PRIME MINISTER: We have to be able to take out those who carry out the attacks and those who send them. Israel will combat mercilessly those who engage in bloodletting. We are a strong people and we will not give in to terrorism. We are a people which stands fast, fights and will prevail, and we will prevail.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
HANNA: And tasked with heading that hunt for whoever was responsible, Israel's Mossad intelligence agency -- Bill.
HEMMER: Mike Hanna in Jerusalem.
Mike, thank you.
It is not known whether al Qaeda is responsible for the bombings in Kenya, but that terrorist network has struck there before and with deadly force, as we have mentioned. They were to blame for the bombing at the U.S. Embassy four years ago, August of 1998.
Our law enforcement analyst Mike Brooks on the FBI task force investigating that bombing. He was on the ground in Eastern Africa back in 1998.
Mike, good morning to you.
MIKE BROOKS, CNN LAW ENFORCEMENT ANALYST: Good morning, Bill.
HEMMER: Do you see similarities based on what we know so far?
BROOKS: Very much so. If we look at the way, the method of operation of the bombing yesterday as compared to the bombing in 1998, a lot of similarities. We saw at the hotel, at the Paradise Resort yesterday, the car try to get into the compound. It was stopped by guards, turned away. About 10 minutes went by. They drove up and down in front of the hotel, then crashed through the gate right up to the front of the lobby and then set the bomb off, almost exactly like we saw in 1998 in Afghanistan, I mean, I'm sorry, in Nairobi.
The same kind of thing, the car pulled up to the gate. It was turned away by guards, went around to the back of the embassy and turned and stopped by guards there. They crashed through the gate. Exactly what they wanted to do in Nairobi was to drive the car or the truck laden with bombs down into the embassy and have it implode on itself. But they were only able to get to the outside of the embassy and set it off then.
But a lot of similarities. And we also see two attacks simultaneously. We see one at the hotel. We saw one with the use of the missiles against the Israeli jetliner. In 1998, two simultaneous bomb attacks, one in Dar-es-Salaam, Tanzania and the other one at the U.S. Embassy in Nairobi.
So a lot of similarities I see, Bill.
HEMMER: Mike, I think the other thing you pointed out, back in 1998 there was somewhat of a target assessment being conducted. You talk about a train station across the street from the embassy. What was happening there?
BROOKS: Well, it's believed that al Qaeda or their operatives were in Nairobi three to five years prior to the attack, doing a threat assessment, looking for vulnerabilities, looking for what they would consider to be a soft target. After the bombing, investigators interviewed many people. Right across the street from the U.S. Embassy in Nairobi is the headquarters for the Kenyan National Railroad. They said well, some of the witnesses who had offices there said well, we saw people making sketches, we saw people taking pictures of the embassy, but we thought it might have just been tourists. But come to find out it was not tourists. It was people most likely involved with al Qaeda doing a threat assessment, doing a target assessment of the embassy to see where its vulnerabilities were. HEMMER: So then, Mike, in a little more than four year's time we have these, the devastating attacks on the U.S. embassies four years ago, we have the events of yesterday that have frankly stunned the world. Take these two events over the past four and a half years and assess the threat of al Qaeda and other terrorist groups operating in Africa. How serious is it?
BROOKS: I think it's very serious. If you look at Africa and you look at the way it's made up, it's a country that's very diverse, many cultures, many religions. Muslim religion in and around Nairobi very prevalent. Have they been there the whole time? Most likely.
The Kenyan CID do a fantastic job and they've been working with the United States law enforcement and intelligence sources since the bombing in 1998. You know, could there have been sleeper cells in Nairobi? Possibly.
If we look at it, Mombasa also had a role to play back in 1998, prior to the embassy bombings. It's believed that the explosives that blew up the U.S. Embassy in 1998 in Nairobi were shipped in through Mombasa, stored for a short time there in its port and then shipped across the country to Nairobi.
So, you know, it also plays a role, you know, exactly what role al Qaeda has played since the embassy bombing in 1998 I'm sure we'll find out a little bit more as investigators sift through all the evidence, sift through the forensic evidence there on the scene.
HEMMER: And apparently they do have some evidence on the ground that's going to help get some answers, at least in the short-term.
Quickly, Mike, in the short time we have left right here, you mentioned Kenyan authorities doing a pretty good job right now. I'm not sure how you define pretty good. But in an overall assessment, is it possible to make a dent if, indeed, al Qaeda or other terrorist groups are putting roots out, substantial roots in Africa? Can you make a dent right now in their operation?
BROOKS: I think we can. I think the United States, working with the Kenyan authorities and the Israeli authorities in Kenya, I think they can make a substantial dent. We did before. We had some arrests right off the bat after the bombings in 1998 and, which was, you know, unprecedented as quickly as the arrests were made. We already have, apparently, a number of folks that they're talking to about the bombing and the missile attacks. I think they can make a dent and I'm sure that they will.
HEMMER: All right, about a dozen right now being held for questioning.
Mike, thanks.
BROOKS: Right.
HEMMER: Mike Brooks again in Atlanta.
TO ORDER A VIDEO OF THIS TRANSCRIPT, PLEASE CALL 800-CNN-NEWS OR USE OUR SECURE ONLINE ORDER FORM LOCATED AT www.fdch.com
Attacks>
Aired November 29, 2002 - 07:32 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
BILL HEMMER, CNN ANCHOR: Back to Israel right now. The prime minister, Ariel Sharon, vowing to track down those responsible for the latest attacks against Israelis as violence overseas and at home yesterday overshadowed the primary elections.
To Jerusalem and Mike Hanna, who joins us now with more on the activities of today -- Mike, good afternoon to you there.
MIKE HANNA, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, Bill, in the wake of that attack in Kenya, Israel sent a fleet of aircraft overnight to pick up the many Israeli wounded and to ferry back those tourists in Kenya who wanted to return following the suicide bomb attack at the Paradise Hotel just north of Mombasa. Also, bringing back on those Israeli aircraft the bodies of three Israelis who were killed in that suicide bomb attack. Among those killed, two children.
But Ariel Sharon insisted that Likud primary elections in Israel go ahead despite the attacks in Kenya and despite the fact that there was an attack in northern Israel that claimed six lives. This a very important primary, deciding who will lead the Likud Party into elections in Israel in January. The fight between Ariel Sharon and his foreign minister, Benjamin Netanyahu, was one very convincingly by Sharon by some 20 percentage points.
But Sharon said it was not a day for celebration and he used the occasion of his victory speech to make clear that Israel would find and bring to punishment those responsible for the attacks in Kenya.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
ARIEL SHARON, ISRAELI PRIME MINISTER: We have to be able to take out those who carry out the attacks and those who send them. Israel will combat mercilessly those who engage in bloodletting. We are a strong people and we will not give in to terrorism. We are a people which stands fast, fights and will prevail, and we will prevail.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
HANNA: And tasked with heading that hunt for whoever was responsible, Israel's Mossad intelligence agency -- Bill.
HEMMER: Mike Hanna in Jerusalem.
Mike, thank you.
It is not known whether al Qaeda is responsible for the bombings in Kenya, but that terrorist network has struck there before and with deadly force, as we have mentioned. They were to blame for the bombing at the U.S. Embassy four years ago, August of 1998.
Our law enforcement analyst Mike Brooks on the FBI task force investigating that bombing. He was on the ground in Eastern Africa back in 1998.
Mike, good morning to you.
MIKE BROOKS, CNN LAW ENFORCEMENT ANALYST: Good morning, Bill.
HEMMER: Do you see similarities based on what we know so far?
BROOKS: Very much so. If we look at the way, the method of operation of the bombing yesterday as compared to the bombing in 1998, a lot of similarities. We saw at the hotel, at the Paradise Resort yesterday, the car try to get into the compound. It was stopped by guards, turned away. About 10 minutes went by. They drove up and down in front of the hotel, then crashed through the gate right up to the front of the lobby and then set the bomb off, almost exactly like we saw in 1998 in Afghanistan, I mean, I'm sorry, in Nairobi.
The same kind of thing, the car pulled up to the gate. It was turned away by guards, went around to the back of the embassy and turned and stopped by guards there. They crashed through the gate. Exactly what they wanted to do in Nairobi was to drive the car or the truck laden with bombs down into the embassy and have it implode on itself. But they were only able to get to the outside of the embassy and set it off then.
But a lot of similarities. And we also see two attacks simultaneously. We see one at the hotel. We saw one with the use of the missiles against the Israeli jetliner. In 1998, two simultaneous bomb attacks, one in Dar-es-Salaam, Tanzania and the other one at the U.S. Embassy in Nairobi.
So a lot of similarities I see, Bill.
HEMMER: Mike, I think the other thing you pointed out, back in 1998 there was somewhat of a target assessment being conducted. You talk about a train station across the street from the embassy. What was happening there?
BROOKS: Well, it's believed that al Qaeda or their operatives were in Nairobi three to five years prior to the attack, doing a threat assessment, looking for vulnerabilities, looking for what they would consider to be a soft target. After the bombing, investigators interviewed many people. Right across the street from the U.S. Embassy in Nairobi is the headquarters for the Kenyan National Railroad. They said well, some of the witnesses who had offices there said well, we saw people making sketches, we saw people taking pictures of the embassy, but we thought it might have just been tourists. But come to find out it was not tourists. It was people most likely involved with al Qaeda doing a threat assessment, doing a target assessment of the embassy to see where its vulnerabilities were. HEMMER: So then, Mike, in a little more than four year's time we have these, the devastating attacks on the U.S. embassies four years ago, we have the events of yesterday that have frankly stunned the world. Take these two events over the past four and a half years and assess the threat of al Qaeda and other terrorist groups operating in Africa. How serious is it?
BROOKS: I think it's very serious. If you look at Africa and you look at the way it's made up, it's a country that's very diverse, many cultures, many religions. Muslim religion in and around Nairobi very prevalent. Have they been there the whole time? Most likely.
The Kenyan CID do a fantastic job and they've been working with the United States law enforcement and intelligence sources since the bombing in 1998. You know, could there have been sleeper cells in Nairobi? Possibly.
If we look at it, Mombasa also had a role to play back in 1998, prior to the embassy bombings. It's believed that the explosives that blew up the U.S. Embassy in 1998 in Nairobi were shipped in through Mombasa, stored for a short time there in its port and then shipped across the country to Nairobi.
So, you know, it also plays a role, you know, exactly what role al Qaeda has played since the embassy bombing in 1998 I'm sure we'll find out a little bit more as investigators sift through all the evidence, sift through the forensic evidence there on the scene.
HEMMER: And apparently they do have some evidence on the ground that's going to help get some answers, at least in the short-term.
Quickly, Mike, in the short time we have left right here, you mentioned Kenyan authorities doing a pretty good job right now. I'm not sure how you define pretty good. But in an overall assessment, is it possible to make a dent if, indeed, al Qaeda or other terrorist groups are putting roots out, substantial roots in Africa? Can you make a dent right now in their operation?
BROOKS: I think we can. I think the United States, working with the Kenyan authorities and the Israeli authorities in Kenya, I think they can make a substantial dent. We did before. We had some arrests right off the bat after the bombings in 1998 and, which was, you know, unprecedented as quickly as the arrests were made. We already have, apparently, a number of folks that they're talking to about the bombing and the missile attacks. I think they can make a dent and I'm sure that they will.
HEMMER: All right, about a dozen right now being held for questioning.
Mike, thanks.
BROOKS: Right.
HEMMER: Mike Brooks again in Atlanta.
TO ORDER A VIDEO OF THIS TRANSCRIPT, PLEASE CALL 800-CNN-NEWS OR USE OUR SECURE ONLINE ORDER FORM LOCATED AT www.fdch.com
Attacks>
