Suspects appear in court charged with ‘commission of a terrorist act’ in wake of attack on Westgate mall in which 67 people died
A Kenyan court has charged four Somali men with terrorist offences for helping al-Qaida-linked militants carry out an attack on a shopping mall in Nairobi that killed 67 people.
All of the men who appeared in court on Monday were formally charged with “commission of a terrorist act” under Kenya‘s anti-terrorism laws. Other accusations ranged from providing support and shelter to the gunmen to using false documents.
The suspects all pleaded not guilty at the hearing.
Few details have emerged about how the September attack was masterminded or how gunmen held off Kenyan security forces for four days in the Westgate mall. Responsibility for the assault was claimed by the Somali Islamist group al-Shabaab.
American, British, Israeli and other experts joined Kenyan investigators at the site of the attack, which struck at the heart of east Africa‘s biggest economy. The west regards Kenya as vital in tsuppressing Islamism in the region.
The men in court were named as Mohamed Ahmed Abdi, Liban Abdullah Omar and Hussein Hassan, while a fourth was identified as Adan Mohamed Ibrahim, although he was listed as using other aliases.
Last month, Kenya named four gunmen who took part in the assault. Al-Shabaab said it acted because of Kenya’s refusal to withdraw its troops from Somalia, where they are part of a African peacekeeping force battling the militants.
The court is expected to set a formal date for the start of the trial on 11 November. The men were remanded in custody until then.
Source:Guardian.co.uk
