- Kenya may have to review its relations with neighbouring Somalia, if war on terror is to be won. This came strongly as Kenyans commemorated tenth anniversary of US embassy bombing today at Memorial Park in Nairobi.
Prime minister Raila Odinga speaking at the occasion today reiterated government's pledge to increase surveillance and vigilance to counter terrorism, further brushing aside accusations that government was to target Muslim groups in mass rakings.
"It would generate the very disaffection and extremism on which terror thrives. It would be sheer madness to target it, or its followers. Kenya will never do so. Our sole target is terrorists," he said.
Mr Odinga said government would pursue and apprehend suspected terrorists within the country, while at the same time seeking strategic engagement with peace loving and law abiding Somalis.
"Let me assure Kenyans that this Government will do everything possible to prevent us from ever again being attacked," he said.
Kenyan government went to anniversary with renewed pressure there could be fresh terror attacks cooiking, following weekend failure to apprehend, Fazul Abdullah Mohammed, in Kenya's coastal town of Malindi, the man believed to have masterminded 1998 simultenous attacks in Nairobi and Dar es Salaam, Tanzania.
Mr Mohammed and his aides are believed to have entered Mombasa by road from neighbouring Somali in disguise, and is believed to have been in Kenya to seek medical attention for a Kidney ailment.
Mr Mohammed, a Comorian national who has a US $5m bounty on his head, is wanted for masterminding attacks on US embassies in Kenya and Tanzania 10 years ago, which killed more than 250 people.
He is also suspected of planning a car bombing of a beach resort in Kenya, killing 13 people and also near simultaneous attempt to shoot down an Israeli airliner in 2002.
Since weekend arrest flop, security has intensified, with Kenya's anti-terrorism officials and other agencies mounting a thorough man-hunt exercise that also saw neighbours, Tanzania and Uganda, joining in an operation to pin-down the elusive multi-faceted suspect.
Daily Nation in Kenya reported Internal Security minister, George Saitoti, as saying country's security agents have put in place measures to pre-empt future attacks.
"We have 24-hour surveillance on our borders to ensure that similar strategies do not occur," Mr Saitoti was quoted.
afrol News - It is called "financial inclusion", and it is a key government policy in Rwanda. The goal is that, by 2020, 90 percent of the population is to have and actively use bank accounts. And in only four years, financial inclusion has doubled in Rwanda.
afrol News - The UN's humanitarian agencies now warn about a devastating famine in Sudan and especially in South Sudan, where the situation is said to be "imploding". Relief officials are appealing to donors to urgently fund life-saving activities in the two countries.
afrol News - Fear is spreading all over West Africa after the health ministry in Guinea confirmed the first Ebola outbreak in this part of Africa. According to official numbers, at least 86 are infected and 59 are dead as a result of this very contagious disease.
afrol News - It is already a crime being homosexual in Ethiopia, but parliament is now making sure the anti-gay laws will be applied in practical life. No pardoning of gays will be allowed in future, but activist fear this only is a signal of further repression being prepared.
afrol News / Africa Renewal - Ethiopia's ambitious plan to build a US$ 4.2 billion dam in the Benishangul-Gumuz region, 40 km from its border with Sudan, is expected to provide 6,000 megawatts of electricity, enough for its population plus some excess it can sell to neighbouring countries.
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