Kenya Bombing Probe Is Stalling

Six Pakistani seamen have yet to be interrogated nearly a week after police detained them following a suicide bombing attack on an Israeli-owned resort north of here. The main reason for the delay? Investigators say they have been unable to find a translator, despite a significant number of Pakistanis here.

Four Somalis, who were seized with the Pakistanis from a wooden boat named the Mogadishu, also have yet to be questioned even though police have Somali-speaking officers in their ranks. A senior police official assured reporters Monday that investigators would interrogate the Somali men soon.

But critics say the probe into Thursday’s bombing of the Paradise hotel -- which killed at least three Israelis, 10 Kenyans and three suicide bombers -- and a near-simultaneous missile attack on an Israeli airliner over Mombasa represents a classic case of how not to conduct an investigation.

The stakes remain high, investigators say, because the probe could determine whether militant Palestinians and Al Qaeda are working together against Israeli targets. Terrorism experts and the Israeli government, which has sent its Mossad spy agency to try to track down the perpetrators and retaliate, say the attacks bore the trademarks of the Al Qaeda terror network.

Despite assurances from Kenyan Internal Security Minister Julius Sunkuli, many people have questioned whether local police are able to lead the probe. Israeli investigators have ridiculed their Kenyan counterparts, saying that “they’re no use except to smile at you.”

Kenyan Deputy Police Commissioner William Langat, one of the lead investigators, surprised foreign reporters Monday when he disclosed that the 10 seamen from the Mogadishu fishing vessel had not been interrogated. Police say the men, who have not been charged, did not have appropriate travel documents when their craft docked here for repairs. Langat said investigators have found no link between the men and Al Qaeda.

When asked whether evidence found at the scene of the hotel bombing was consistent with that found during previous attacks by Al Qaeda, including the deadly 1998 bombings of the U.S. embassies in Nairobi, Kenya, and Dar es Salaam, Tanzania, Langat replied: “Your guess is as good as mine.”

Langat said language differences were among the main reasons the 10 men have not yet been interrogated.

Meanwhile, U.S. intelligence officials said Monday that evidence was mounting that the attacks on the hotel and the Israeli airliner were carried out by Al Qaeda. A U.S. official said that an Al Qaeda claim of responsibility on the Internet was “being viewed as credible,” but that American intelligence could not vouch for its authenticity.

The official also said serial numbers on missile launchers recovered at the site near Mombasa are close to the number found on a launcher that is believed to have been smuggled by Al Qaeda operatives in May into a Saudi military base used by U.S. forces.

“The serial numbers are fairly close sequentially,” the official said, citing the similarity as one of the “growing indications of an Al Qaeda role” in the Kenya attacks.

Kenya does not have an exceptional record on tracking down terrorists. The country allowed the FBI and CIA to do the bulk of the investigation into the embassy bombing in Nairobi. Several people, some with links in Mombasa, have been convicted in the U.S. for the attack.

Last December, Kenyan police announced that they had arrested Sheik Ahmed Salim Swedan, who was on the FBI’s most-wanted terrorist list because of his alleged involvement in the Nairobi bombing. Police later acknowledged they had arrested the wrong man.

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Greg Miller in Washington contributed to this report.