Same Suspects Tied to Mombasa and '98 Embassy Attacks

Investigators have found evidence suggesting that some of the same operatives of Al Qaeda involved in the American Embassy bombings in East Africa in 1998 may have helped carry out the attack in November on a Kenyan resort. Four Qaeda members were convicted in 2001 for the embassy attacks. But American officials acknowledge that they never completely cracked the Qaeda cell that carried out the embassy bombings in Kenya and Tanzania, which left 224 people dead. Thirteen of the F.B.I.’s 22 most wanted terrorists are suspects in those attacks. Now, investigators say, at least two members of that cell may have gone on to plan the bombing of the Paradise Hotel in Mombasa on Nov. 28 that killed 11 Kenyans, 3 Israelis and at least 2 suicide bombers. A nearly simultaneous attack with a missile narrowly missed a charter plane headed to Israel from the Mombasa airport. “From the way things are unfolding, we think there’s a connection,” one Kenyan investigator said. “There are many suspicious links between this one and that one back in 1998.” Mossad, the Israeli intelligence agency, and the F.B.I. have been involved in the Mombasa investigation here. After the embassy bombings in 1998, F.B.I officials believed that most of those involved had fled the area, possibly seeking haven in Afghanistan, and the trail of the suspected Qaeda members went cold. Then came the Mombasa attacks, for which Al Qaeda claimed responsibility. After nearly three months of investigation, Kenyan law enforcement officials have yet to arrest any suspects. The many people detained for questioning have been released. Full Story