Accused Kenya Bombers Go Free
Charles Johnson
Thu Jun 9, 2005 at 8:10 am PDT • Views: 303
Four acquitted of 2002 Kenya hotel suicide blast. (Hat tip: Renna.)
NAIROBI (Reuters) - A Kenyan judge on Thursday acquitted four men charged in the 2002 suicide bombing of an Israeli-owned hotel that killed 15 people, saying prosecutors had failed to link them to the bombers or al Qaeda.
Human rights groups and Muslim organizations welcomed the decision, saying it vindicated their assertion that Kenyan police were panicked into a hurried, incompetent investigation by strong pressure from Western governments looking for results. …
Osiemo said there was no evidence connecting the defendants to al Qaeda, save calls between their mobile phones and that of a still-wanted suspect believed to be a top al Qaeda member in Kenya. [That’s all? Let ‘em go! —ed.]
The defendants, Mohamed Ali Saleh Nabhan, Omar Said Omar, Mohammed Kubwa and Aboud Rogo Mohammed, had denied the charges.
The four Kenyans thrust their fists into the air, their wives burst into tears of joy and shouts of “Allahu Akbar!” (God is Greatest) filled the courtroom after Osiemo told them they were to be freed. One defendant wept.
“For two years, my father has been tortured. But now he is out and I am a little bit happy. But, inshallah (God willing) God will avenge them,” said Saidi, Rogo’s 10-year-old son.
Frank says: