/ 4 August 2008

Kenyans deny hiding terror suspect

Three relatives plead not guilty to harbouring a man accused of masterminding the bombings of two US embassies in East Africa 10 years ago.

Three relatives pleaded not guilty on Monday to harbouring a man accused of masterminding the bombings of two United States embassies in East Africa 10 years ago.

The suspects were arrested over the weekend when a police raid on their family home in eastern Kenya failed to capture Abdullah Mohammed, who allegedly planned the 1998 attacks on the US embassies in Kenya and Tanzania that killed 225 people and wounded more than 5 000.

The three suspects — Mahfoudh Ashur; his wife, Lutfiya Abubakar; and their son, Ibrahim Mahfoudh — entered their pleas at a court in the coastal Kenyan town of Mombasa.

A judge then ordered them held for four days as the prosecution gathers more information.

Mohammed was captured by Kenyan police in 2002 for credit-card fraud, but he escaped after a day and fled to war-ravaged Somalia, where authorities believe he’s still hiding.

He apparently was in Kenya over the weekend to seek treatment for a kidney problem. — Sapa-AP