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CNN Sunday Morning
American Couple Held in Kenya Prove Resilient
Aired December 01, 2002 - 09:05 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.
KRIS OSBORN, CNN ANCHOR: Let's go live to Kenya. The couple held for questioning in the deadly hotel bombing has been talking to our senior international correspondent. CNN's Sheila MacVicar joins us from Mombasa. Sheila, by the interviews that you've received thus far, they seem to be holding up very well.
SHEILA MACVICAR, CNN SR. INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: They're a pretty resilient pair, let me tell you, these two. Not only that -- guess what, Kris? They say they plan to continue their vacation here in Kenya.
Now, it helps a lot that both of them are very well traveled and that Alicia Kalhammer, in fact, is the daughter of former U.S. diplomats. She grew up in Kenya and lived here for a while as a child. But on Thursday morning, that was when their nostalgia trip to places where Alicia had lived all went terribly wrong.
They were in a beach hotel not too far from here, far enough away that they say they didn't even hear that bomb blast at 8:30, but they were in a hotel where many of the other guests were Israelis. They felt that -- not very secure there and decided that it was time to move on. But when they went to check out, instead what happened was they were arrested and found themselves held as possible suspects in the Thursday attack.
Now, there are two of the suspects, of course, that the Kenyan government has been talking about. Alicia, of course, a U.S. citizen. Her husband, Pepe Tena, a Spanish citizen working in the United States.
I asked them just a short while ago if there was ever a moment while they were held in Kenyan police custody, undergoing interrogation, that they feared that they might be made scapegoats.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
ALICIA KALHAMMER, QUESTIONED IN KENYA ATTACK: Sometime that afternoon, Craig Mass (ph) and two other guys from the American embassy showed up. Craig Mass (ph) is the RSO, one of the RSO people there. And sort of came charging into the police station, saying do you have American citizens here? And we were sitting right there. They could see us, and, of course, I just burst into tears, like, oh, the Cavalry is here. And feeling immense relief. I mean, that is a sight that no American should ever have to go through, but if you're in that situation, thank God that they're there. Thank God that they're there. (END VIDEO CLIP)
MACVICAR: Alicia Kalhammer there, talking about the best moment of that entire stay in Kenyan police custody. They had managed to get word out to the U.S. embassy by getting -- by buying a new mobile phone card for a Kenyan guard and begging him to make a phone call to a friend of theirs in Nairobi. On Thanksgiving Day, he was able to rouse the Marine guard on duty at the U.S. embassy and get a hold of American diplomats who were able to get down here to Mombasa. The RSO that Alicia was talking about there, of course, the regional security officer, and she said it was like seeing the Cavalry come over the hill when they walked into that police station -- Kris.
OSBORN: As evidenced by that interview with Alicia and comments from her husband, they're both very lighthearted and kind of these things can be par for the course. Are you learning anything more about what actually transpired when they were in custody, the kind of questions they may have received?
MACVICAR: Well, they were in custody for a period of days. They were held in a police station down near the old port of Mombasa. And as you can imagine, Kenyan police station isn't exactly a five-star facility. They tried to separate the two on the first night, to put Pepe into a cell with other prisoners, including other people who were being held as suspects in the attacks here. They managed to persuade them not to do that.
So at least for the first night, they were -- they basically attempted to sleep. They said they couldn't sleep or eat, frankly, in a bench in a hallway. Now, they were interrogated and they went through the details of their lives, who are you, where were you born? What schools did you go? What do your parents do? Basically trying to build as detailed a picture as possible of these two. They wanted to know everything about where they'd been on this extended vacation that they're on, this kind of nostalgia trip, as I said.
But there was this moment, when, for Alicia, it was really the worst moment, when she really feared that they might be made scapegoats and weren't sure how they were going to get out of it.
OSBORN: Sheila MacVicar, live in Mombasa, with a story of several resilient travelers. Thank you very much.
TO ORDER A VIDEO OF THIS TRANSCRIPT, PLEASE CALL 800-CNN-NEWS OR USE OUR SECURE ONLINE ORDER FORM LOCATED AT www.fdch.com
Aired December 1, 2002 - 09:05 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
KRIS OSBORN, CNN ANCHOR: Let's go live to Kenya. The couple held for questioning in the deadly hotel bombing has been talking to our senior international correspondent. CNN's Sheila MacVicar joins us from Mombasa. Sheila, by the interviews that you've received thus far, they seem to be holding up very well.
SHEILA MACVICAR, CNN SR. INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: They're a pretty resilient pair, let me tell you, these two. Not only that -- guess what, Kris? They say they plan to continue their vacation here in Kenya.
Now, it helps a lot that both of them are very well traveled and that Alicia Kalhammer, in fact, is the daughter of former U.S. diplomats. She grew up in Kenya and lived here for a while as a child. But on Thursday morning, that was when their nostalgia trip to places where Alicia had lived all went terribly wrong.
They were in a beach hotel not too far from here, far enough away that they say they didn't even hear that bomb blast at 8:30, but they were in a hotel where many of the other guests were Israelis. They felt that -- not very secure there and decided that it was time to move on. But when they went to check out, instead what happened was they were arrested and found themselves held as possible suspects in the Thursday attack.
Now, there are two of the suspects, of course, that the Kenyan government has been talking about. Alicia, of course, a U.S. citizen. Her husband, Pepe Tena, a Spanish citizen working in the United States.
I asked them just a short while ago if there was ever a moment while they were held in Kenyan police custody, undergoing interrogation, that they feared that they might be made scapegoats.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
ALICIA KALHAMMER, QUESTIONED IN KENYA ATTACK: Sometime that afternoon, Craig Mass (ph) and two other guys from the American embassy showed up. Craig Mass (ph) is the RSO, one of the RSO people there. And sort of came charging into the police station, saying do you have American citizens here? And we were sitting right there. They could see us, and, of course, I just burst into tears, like, oh, the Cavalry is here. And feeling immense relief. I mean, that is a sight that no American should ever have to go through, but if you're in that situation, thank God that they're there. Thank God that they're there. (END VIDEO CLIP)
MACVICAR: Alicia Kalhammer there, talking about the best moment of that entire stay in Kenyan police custody. They had managed to get word out to the U.S. embassy by getting -- by buying a new mobile phone card for a Kenyan guard and begging him to make a phone call to a friend of theirs in Nairobi. On Thanksgiving Day, he was able to rouse the Marine guard on duty at the U.S. embassy and get a hold of American diplomats who were able to get down here to Mombasa. The RSO that Alicia was talking about there, of course, the regional security officer, and she said it was like seeing the Cavalry come over the hill when they walked into that police station -- Kris.
OSBORN: As evidenced by that interview with Alicia and comments from her husband, they're both very lighthearted and kind of these things can be par for the course. Are you learning anything more about what actually transpired when they were in custody, the kind of questions they may have received?
MACVICAR: Well, they were in custody for a period of days. They were held in a police station down near the old port of Mombasa. And as you can imagine, Kenyan police station isn't exactly a five-star facility. They tried to separate the two on the first night, to put Pepe into a cell with other prisoners, including other people who were being held as suspects in the attacks here. They managed to persuade them not to do that.
So at least for the first night, they were -- they basically attempted to sleep. They said they couldn't sleep or eat, frankly, in a bench in a hallway. Now, they were interrogated and they went through the details of their lives, who are you, where were you born? What schools did you go? What do your parents do? Basically trying to build as detailed a picture as possible of these two. They wanted to know everything about where they'd been on this extended vacation that they're on, this kind of nostalgia trip, as I said.
But there was this moment, when, for Alicia, it was really the worst moment, when she really feared that they might be made scapegoats and weren't sure how they were going to get out of it.
OSBORN: Sheila MacVicar, live in Mombasa, with a story of several resilient travelers. Thank you very much.
TO ORDER A VIDEO OF THIS TRANSCRIPT, PLEASE CALL 800-CNN-NEWS OR USE OUR SECURE ONLINE ORDER FORM LOCATED AT www.fdch.com
