Kenyan authorities arrest man who may be connected to U.S. Embassy bombing

By MATTHEW J. ROSENBERG
Associated Press Writer

NAIROBI, Kenya – Authorities have arrested a man with suspected ties to Osama bin Laden's al-Qaida network who may have participated in the 1998 bombing of the U.S. Embassy in Kenya, police said Monday.

Police spokesman Dola Indidis initially identified the suspect as Sheikh Ahmed Salim Swedan, whose name appears on a list of 22 most wanted terrorists issued Oct. 10 by President Bush. He was arrested Saturday in Mandera, 500 miles northeast of Nairobi on Kenya's border with Somalia.

But Indidis later said that police had not yet determined the man's identity. "We may not know all his names or aliases but I can confirm we have arrested a sheikh."

Swedan's name and those of four other suspects are on a Dec. 16, 1998, U.S. indictment that accuses bin Laden of masterminding both the Nairobi embassy bombing and a simultaneous attack on the U.S. Embassy in Dar es Salaam in neighboring Tanzania. The State Department offered $5 million each for information leading to the arrests of the fugitives.

Four people were tried and convicted in a U.S. federal court in New York in connection with the bombings.

Indidis said the suspect was arrested Saturday "over concerns for the security of the country" but did not elaborate. The suspect has not been charged and it was not clear whether he had been transferred to Nairobi.

Billow Adam, chairman of Nairobi's Jamia Mosque, said police had arrested the wrong man. He identified the suspect in custody as a friend named Ahmed Hassan Mursal, a man in his 60s whose nickname, "Ahmed Sudan," may have confused authorities.

But a U.S. official said the arrest stemmed from an October tip to the embassy "from a concerned Kenyan" that Swedan was living in Mandera.

"The embassy passed this information along to Kenyan authorities, and we understand that one individual is currently in custody while checks are being made to verify his identity," U.S. embassy spokesman Peter Claussen said.

British Prime Minister Tony Blair identified Swedan as one of two al-Qaida operatives who bought a truck used in the Aug. 7, 1998 embassy bombing in Nairobi which killed 219 people, including 12 Americans.

AP-WS-12-10-01 1434EST