Identifier
Created
Classification
Origin
08NAIROBI2174
2008-09-17 04:38:00
CONFIDENTIAL
Embassy Nairobi
Cable title:
TERRORISM CONVICTION OVERTURNED, SUSPECT RELEASED
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C O N F I D E N T I A L NAIROBI 002174
SIPDIS
E.O. 12958: DECL: 09/15/2018
TAGS: KCRM KE PINS PTER
SUBJECT: TERRORISM CONVICTION OVERTURNED, SUSPECT RELEASED
Classified By: POLOFF Samuel Madsen, reasons 1.4 (b,d).
C O N F I D E N T I A L NAIROBI 002174
SIPDIS
E.O. 12958: DECL: 09/15/2018
TAGS: KCRM KE PINS PTER
SUBJECT: TERRORISM CONVICTION OVERTURNED, SUSPECT RELEASED
Classified By: POLOFF Samuel Madsen, reasons 1.4 (b,d).
1. (U) According to multiple news reports, Omar Said Omar,
the only suspect convicted of a crime in connection with the
2002 attacks on an Israeli owned hotel and airliner near
Mombasa, Kenya, was released from prison today after his
conviction was overturned by the High Court of Kenya. In
2005 Omar and four others were acquitted of complicity in the
2002 attack on the Paradise Hotel and the near simultaneous
attempt to shoot down an Arkia Airlines passenger jet.
However, following his release Omar was immediately
re-arrested on charges of illegal possession of weapons,
including several anti-tank rockets, which had been found by
police in a house where he was believed to have been living.
Citing the fact that Omar was in police custody at the time
the arms cache was seized, Justice Jackton Ojwang' overruled
Omar,s conviction by a lower court on the grounds that the
police had failed to connect him to the weapons.
2. (C) Comment: the Omar case highlights the weakness of the
Kenyan legal system in attempting to prosecute suspects in
terrorist cases in the absence of specific anti-terrorism
legislation. In addition, the police lack the investigative
skills and resources to collect and present evidence properly
in Court. Recent efforts to pass anti-terrorism legislation
have failed largely due to concerns by human rights
organizations that the proposed law would give the government
too much power, and accusations by Islamic politicians and
community leaders that as proposed Kenyan anti-terrorism
legislation is inherently anti-Muslim. The enactment of
effective anti-terrorism legislation in Kenya will be
difficult given that Kenya,s major political blocs continue
to vie for support from Kenya,s Muslim minority.
RANNEBERGER
SIPDIS
E.O. 12958: DECL: 09/15/2018
TAGS: KCRM KE PINS PTER
SUBJECT: TERRORISM CONVICTION OVERTURNED, SUSPECT RELEASED
Classified By: POLOFF Samuel Madsen, reasons 1.4 (b,d).
1. (U) According to multiple news reports, Omar Said Omar,
the only suspect convicted of a crime in connection with the
2002 attacks on an Israeli owned hotel and airliner near
Mombasa, Kenya, was released from prison today after his
conviction was overturned by the High Court of Kenya. In
2005 Omar and four others were acquitted of complicity in the
2002 attack on the Paradise Hotel and the near simultaneous
attempt to shoot down an Arkia Airlines passenger jet.
However, following his release Omar was immediately
re-arrested on charges of illegal possession of weapons,
including several anti-tank rockets, which had been found by
police in a house where he was believed to have been living.
Citing the fact that Omar was in police custody at the time
the arms cache was seized, Justice Jackton Ojwang' overruled
Omar,s conviction by a lower court on the grounds that the
police had failed to connect him to the weapons.
2. (C) Comment: the Omar case highlights the weakness of the
Kenyan legal system in attempting to prosecute suspects in
terrorist cases in the absence of specific anti-terrorism
legislation. In addition, the police lack the investigative
skills and resources to collect and present evidence properly
in Court. Recent efforts to pass anti-terrorism legislation
have failed largely due to concerns by human rights
organizations that the proposed law would give the government
too much power, and accusations by Islamic politicians and
community leaders that as proposed Kenyan anti-terrorism
legislation is inherently anti-Muslim. The enactment of
effective anti-terrorism legislation in Kenya will be
difficult given that Kenya,s major political blocs continue
to vie for support from Kenya,s Muslim minority.
RANNEBERGER