Kenya 'suicide bomber' Yemeni link

Faisal has been dubbed Kenya's first suicide bomber

Kenyan authorities have identified two suspected members of the al-Qaeda terrorist network arrested in the coastal town of Mombasa.

Kenyan Security Minister Chris Murungaru said on Tuesday that the two men were Kenyan nationals of Yemeni origin, according to Reuters news agency.

One of the men detonated a grenade in a police van on Friday, killing himself and a policeman as he was being driven to the town's central police station.

Kenyan police earlier named the suspected suicide bomber as Faisal, a 20-year-old Kenyan Muslim from the Mombasa suburb of Kaloleni and son of Ali Deri.

The second suspect, who was arrested after the blast and who is said to be a close associate of Faisal, is still being interrogated by Kenyan police in the capital, Nairobi.

Meanwhile, the hearing of the five al-Qaeda suspects charged with murder in connection with last year's suicide bombing on an Israeli-owned hotel in Mombasa has been adjourned until Thursday.

Rejected

The prosecution's appeal to be allowed another month for further investigation was rejected by the judge in the Nairobi Chief Magistrates Court on Tuesday.

Last November, al-Qaeda claimed responsibility for a bomb attack at a Mombasa hotel and a failed missile attack on an Israeli passenger jet.

The BBC's Noel Mwakugu says Mombasa remains tense with residents fearful that the police will launch a major crackdown on suspected terrorists.

The police expressed optimism that the arrest and subsequent interrogation of the suspect had yielded useful clues which will boost the war against terror in the country.

The East African Standard newspaper quotes senior police sources saying that Faisal wanted to blow up the police station to eliminate an accomplice suspected to have been detained there before vital information could be extracted from him.

The suspect managed to detonate the hand grenade whilst he was seated in the back of a police vehicle, being guarded by two police officers, outside the police station.

The Kenyan anti-terrorist police unit is said to be working jointly with the American Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) in tracking down terror suspects.

Residents of Mombasa and other areas along the Kenyan coast have complained that the government was using high-handed tactics in the fight against terror.