THE arraignment in a Nairobi court of two Iranians accused of having explosives has opened a new front in the diplomatic row between Israel and Iran.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on Monday accused Iran of plotting terror attacks against its (Israel's) interests in Kenya. Netanyahu further accused Tehran of being a sponsor of international terrorism. "Iranian terrorism knows no borders," Netanyahu is quoted as saying in a statement from his office.
"After Iran sent its agents to murder the Saudi ambassador on US soil, the country has engaged in attacks in Azerbaijan, Bangkok, in Tbilisi, in New Delhi, and now we have just discovered a plot for a terrorist attack in Africa," Netanyahu said. "The international community must fight against this major player in the world of terrorism," he added.
According to the court charges against Ahmed Mohamud and Said Mausud, the two Iranians were arrested after they were found with 15 kilogrammes of RDX explosives in circumstances which indicated that they were armed with intent to commit a felony. They were arrested in Nairobi and led investigators to the Mombasa Golf Course on Mama Ngina Drive where the explosives were found. They both denied the charges before Principal Magistrate PC Biwott, just a day after the June 25 grenade attack on a bar in Mishomoroni area of Mombasa that killed three people.
The Iran government has denied any knowledge of the duo and said their identities were not known. "The identities of these persons are not yet known to us and the Iranian embassy in Nairobi is seeking to obtain information and a consular visit," Foreign Ministry spokesman Ramin Mehmanparast said, quoted by state news agency IRNA. "As long as the identities of these persons are not obtained, we cannot make any comment about this matter," he said.
Yesterday, London's Daily Mail reported that the two Iranians had planned to attack Israeli, US, British or Saudi targets inside Kenya. It said the foiled attack appeared to fit into a global pattern of plots by Iranian agents. Previous plots were uncovered in the US - against Saudi Arabia's ambassador - as well as in Thailand, Azerbaijan and India.
The newspaper reported the two are believed to be members of Iran's Islamic Revolutionary Guards Corps Quds Force, an elite and secretive unit that acts against foreign interests. Quoting officials within, the Mail said the advanced explosives the two Iranians had and their links to the Quds Force indicate that the mission in Kenya was cleared by the highest levels inside Iran's government.
However, the story says it's not clear how much central direction Quds operatives receive from top Iranian leaders. Five Iranian scientists with links to the country's nuclear programme have been killed in the last two years. Iran has pointed an accusing finger at Israel, US and British intelligence agencies for the attacks. In return, Israel blames Iran for alleged reprisal missions on Israeli property and personnel overseas.
Iran has denied any links to attacks outside its borders. "The reason basically is that to some extent, there is an al-Quds operation against Israel, which is a reprisal to Israeli attacks on Iranian physicists and scientists," Anthony Cordesman, a Middle East expert at the Center for Strategic and International Studies told the Mail in London. "It is much more likely if they were to do anything in Africa that they would try to find Israeli targets rather than US, British or Saudi targets," said Cordesman.
Several resorts on Kenya's Coast are Israeli-owned, as is Nairobi's largest and newest shopping mall, the Westgate in Westlands. Militants in 2002 bombed the Israeli-owned Paradise Hotel outside Mombasa killing 13 people. The attackers also tried to shoot down an Israeli airliner at the same time. An al Qaeda operative was linked to those attacks.
The newspaper said it is unlikely the Iranians were working in concert with al Shabaab because the two groups come from two different branches of Islam and don't normally cooperate. Internal Security acting minister Yusuf Haji refused to comment when was asked at a news conference on Friday about the case against the two Iranians. Haji said the the issue was not only "sensitive" but he could not comment on a matter pending before the court. He said more information would come out when the prosecution presents its evidence.
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Thats REALLY funny considering Wednesday article posted on antiwar.com, the FBI partially declassified and released additional pages from a 1985-2002 investigation into how a network of front companies connected to the Israeli Ministry for Military Affairs illegally smuggled triggers used for nuclear weapons (krytrons) out of the United States.
The FBI investigation reveals that Netanyahu worked at Heli Trading Company, the Israeli node of the network during the smuggling operations.
What will it take before these criminally insane zionist warmonger leaders like Netanyahu are led away in handcuffs? We literally have madmen and women in positions of power with complete nuclear arsenals at their very fingertips…there is no time to waste
Let's not forget the weapons of mass destruction and connections with al-Qaeda leaders that Saddam Hussein's regime supposedly had. The U.S. government called that a 'miscalculation'. If they made such 'miscalculations' in the past with a war that killed hundreds of thousands of Iraqi civilians and set the country back for decades, why should we believe that the attempts to go to war with Iran is not another miscalculation?
Hold up a second. I really dont think Israel need to create stories to create excuses to go to war. Remember the paradise hotel? America do not have any intention of going to war with Iran at the moment certainly not in an election year. Also i think many Iraqis are pretty happy to of got rid of saddam, even if it was on a miscalculation and i think they really did miscalculate and overestimate Saddam. one less murdering dictator to worry about. Iran has made no secret of her intention to go nuclear, Also with the recent uprising s in the country against the president and the atrocities committed against them by the government i dont see how you can be so vindictive over israel and seek to defend iran.at least Israel treats its own with respect. i am neither jew nor muslim nor christian i can only assume you have a religious bias. America and Israel seek to protect their countries and citizens, being an advocate of freedom democracy and equal rights i sincerely hope they continue to fight against countries like Iran that show nothing but contempt for those values that i hold dear. And i wouldn't worry about israels nuclear capabilities, All the countries she would love to nuke are far too clos to her borders. Israel and the usa are not without their faults but i certainly would allie to them over iran.
So, what is the proof that these Iranians are the agents of the Iranian government? Do Africans believe everything that the lunatic prime minister of Israel tells them.
These Iranians could easily have been members of the terrorist cult MKO which Mossad often uses to commits its dastardly acts.
As for the claim that Iran wanted to assassinate the Saudi ambassador to the US, it was a similar farcical claim made up by the FBI and the US government to make Iran look bad.
George.... Do you really think governments have to make stuff up to make Iran look bad. Also in your little conspiracy theory, tell me what would two Israelis be doing with that amount of explosives? The fact that kenya are pulling out of an oil deal with Iran shows that there must be some pressure from her allies. As in if you want are intel and help you better stop dealing with our enemies. i suppose you think the recent terrorist plots that were foiled in uk were made up to make al quaeda look bad? And 911 was actually Zionist jews in partnership with the U.S Government so they could go to war with Afganistan and Iraq and steal their oil? i would love to see your proof on these allegations...
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