Kenya hunts for suspect in city explosion

Kenyan police said Saturday they are looking for a male suspect with crucial information that can assist in the investigation of Monday's explosion which killed one person and injured 37 others in the capital, Nairobi.

Police spokesman Eric Kiraithe told a news conference in Nairobi that efforts to trace Mohamed Hirsi Farah whose nationality remains unknown have not been successful and appealed to the public to volunteer information that may lead to his arrest.

"Police have cause to believe that one Mohamed Hirsi Farah has information which can assist in the investigation of this incidence. However efforts to trace and interview the said Hirsi have not been successful," Kiraithe told journalists in Nairobi.

"We are therefore circulating his photograph with an appeal to any person with information on his whereabouts to contact any police or call telephone number 0729 999988," Kiraithe added.

He said the exact identity of the deceased, who witnesses had said was the bomber, has not been established.

"The identification of the sole fatality has not been ascertained through his finger prints or in person. Consequently it has become necessary to make an appeal for assistance in his identification," Kiraithe said.

The mysterious explosion rocked downtown Nairobi on Monday morning causing panic along one of the busiest streets during the peak of the morning rush.

Witnesses had said three men carrying a small bomb tried to squeeze onto a crowded bus headed toward the airport, but when they were pushed off by other passengers, the bomb exploded in one of the men's hands.

Chunks of glass and pieces of a shredded Koran were scattered across the sidewalk in front of the busy bus stop, fueling fears that the bomber was an Islamist terrorist.

Initial reports suggest a suicide bomber carried out the attack, but this has not been confirmed by the police who have played down rumors that blast was a terrorist attack.

"We are investigation this incident from all angles but so far we have not had evidence that this man(Hirsi) is linked to al- Qaeda or any international terrorist network," said Kiraithe.

"Investigators are following several leads and we shall be linking with other Interpol countries but so far we have not contacted any specific country to assist us with investigations," he said.

Kiraithe said so far only two persons are in police custody and are assisting them in investigations. He said the security has been heightened in all entry points to flush out suspicious characters in the country.

The blast was close to the site of the 1998 U.S. embassy bombing which killed more than 200 people and injured thousands others.

The blast came barely a week after members of a proscribed religious sect have beheaded several people in central Kenya and killed at least 10 policemen in the past two months.

The explosion also came as several terrorism suspects from neighboring Somalia continue to be rounded up at the Kenya-Somali border.

Source: Xinhua