'Bittersweet' victory for bomb victims

Despite the verdict, the pain remains

Victims and relatives of those killed in the 1998 bombing of the US embassy in Nairobi have welcomed a jury's conviction of four men involved in the explosions.

It was bittersweet. We couldn't have asked for a better verdict. The jury did a good job

Consul-general's widow

But some said that Osama bin Laden, the man considered to be the mastermind behind the bombings, should be brought to trial for justice to be genuinely done.

And with hundreds still suffering the physical and psychological injuries inflicted by the attack, many feel that things will never be the same again.

Sue Bartley, who lost her husband Julian, the consul-general, and her son Jay in the Nairobi bombing, described the verdict as "bittersweet".

"We couldn't have asked for a better verdict," she said. "The jury did a good job."

Wounds not healed

But Mary Olds, who lost her daughter Shirley, said she could not be satisfied until Mr bin Laden was convicted:

We see that justice has been done, but it will not heal whatever happened because we will still be left with feeling that we are no longer the same

Local victim

"It is not over. If we do not deal with the main person we will be dealing with him for years to come."

Philomena Owino, a 50-year-old Nairobi office worker who received leg injuries in the bombing, said that even the guilty verdict would not heal the victims' wounds.

"We see that justice has been done, but it will not heal whatever happened because we will still be left with feeling that we are no longer the same," she said.

News that two of the convicted men now face capital punishment was not universally approved of.

"I don't think the death penalty is best," said John Gateru, who received head injuries in Nairobi.

"Let's give someone a chance to repent."