Wahome Thuku
4 March 2005
Nairobi — A leading bomb expert attached to President Kibaki's security team is expected to testify in a case involving the 2002 terrorist bombing of a Coast hotel.
And if the officer, Mr Charles Idi Juma, fails to appear in court, the three suspects will be released on bond, Nairobi chief magistrate Aggrey Muchelule said.
Mr Said Saggar Ahmed, Mr Kubwa Mohammed Seif and Mr Salimin Mohammed Khamis are charged with conspiring to bomb Paradise Hotel in Kikambala, Kilifi District, on November 28, 2002. Fifteen people were killed.
The three are also charged with conspiring to shoot down an Israeli plane at Moi International Airport, Mombasa, on the same day.
Mr Juma, one of Kenya's few bomb experts, who is attached to the anti-terrorism squad, recovered at the scene the missile launcher used in the attempt to bring down the plane.
The bomb expert, who initially served in President Moi's security team, was also involved in the investigations in Mombasa and is a prime witness.
State counsel Edwin Okelo said Mr Juma had accompanied President Kibaki to Eldoret and they were not sure how soon he will be available to testify.
Mr Muchelule said it was understandable that Mr Juma had been assigned duties by the President. The only fair deal would then be to release the accused on bond awaiting his evidence, he added.
Lawyers Kiraithe Wandungi and Maobe Mao said their clients had suffered in custody since 2002 whereas the offence was bailable.
Earlier, Mr Wandungi said a prime suspect in the 1998 bombing of the American embassy in Nairobi, Mr Fazur Abdula, also funded a football club in Lamu District, called Al Kaeda.
The lawyer was cross-examining chief investigator Joseph Mugwanja of the CID headquarters, who denied any knowledge of such a club.
Mr Wandungi said the man associated with senior people and engaged in social activities at the Coast without being detected by the police.
Mr Mugwanja said the three suspects were arrested after investigating many telephone calls that linked them to Mr Fazur.
But Mr Muchelule questioned why police never interrogated a Prof G.N. Kamau whose telephone also called most of the suspects.
Mr Mugwanja said the investigators did not use technology that would have enabled them to discover where each of the callers was located.
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