In such a major tragedy, you don’t wait to be assigned or get instructions from your seniors. I picked up my pen and notebook, then raced out of the building. My colleagues did the same.
Surprisingly, even staff at the guesthouse never knew they had hosted the bombers until the combined CID and FBI squad came knocking.
The US embassy bombings took nearly five years of preparations and planning. Fazul was centrally involved at every step along the way.
Fazul Mohammed, the mastermind of the US Embassy bombings, fled to Somalia after the Nairobi attack, sneaked into Lamu from where he planned to bomb Israeli-owned Paradise Hotel in Kikambala
In 1996, Fazul and Wadih el-Hage - Lebanese member of Al-Qaeda - transported $7,000 from Osama bin Laden to a contact in Mombasa. That money was used to fund terrorism in Kenya, Uganda and Tanzania.
First Lady Lucy Kibaki stormed the newsroom of Daily Nation at Nation Centre’s third floor in the company of six bodyguards and a terrified King’ori. That was around 11pm.
Secretive organs of the state raided The Standard Group, harassed late-night staff, switched KTN off the air and set the day’s newspapers that were rolling off the press on fire.
I won’t discuss the full content of the write-ups for security and legal implications. All I can say is that they were highly defamatory and scandalous of President Kibaki.
The original plot was to bomb the entire I&M Building but the hooded officers developed cold feet and opted for the ‘softer’ option of the raiding the premises
Drama was to unfold when it emerged that Artur Margaryan and Artur Sargasyan were clandestinely spirited out of Kenya hours after arrest instead of being charged in court.
You were a magnet that attracted true, warm and lasting friendships – due to your golden heart and the trademark laughter and infectious smile you always flashed.
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