Charges dropped over Kenya blast

Seif (l) and Ahmed (r) were charged with a new alleged plot on the US embassy

Murder charges have been dropped against five men in connection with last year's bombing of a hotel near the Kenyan resort of Mombasa.

Two men were released due to lack of evidence, while three more were charged with plotting three different terror attacks in Kenya.

Four more men are still facing murder charges and have pleaded not guilty.

At least 16 people died when suicide bombers drove into the Israeli-owned Paradise Hotel, exactly a year ago.

At the same time, missiles narrowly missed a charter plane taking tourists back to Israel from Mombasa airport.

'Free to go'

The BBC's Christian Fraser in Nairobi says there was tight security at the high court as the nine men were led into a packed courtroom handcuffed together.

Rais Abdallah Shariff, a teenager, and Mohamed Ali Hassan, believed to be in his 20s, are "free to go," said Justice Kaplana Rawal.

Kenya mourns a year on

Mohammed Kubwa Seif, Said Saggar Ahmed and Salmin Mohamed Khamisi were later charged with four counts of conspiracy to commit a felony.

These related to the August 1998 bombing of the US embassy in Nairobi, the attempt to shoot down the Israeli airliner near Mombasa and an alleged plot to blow up the new US embassy in Nairobi between November 2002 and June 2003.

The US embassy was closed for five days after warnings of a possible attack in June.

Defence lawyer Maobe Mao criticised the decision to wait until now before dropping the charges.

"They knew that the evidence they had could not sustain a charge of murder," he said.

Tourism hit

The murder trial of Omar Said Omar, Mohamed Kubwa, Aboud Rogo Mohammed and Mohamed Ali Saleh Nabhan will start on 26 January 2004, the judge said.

Our correspondent says it took more than 15 minutes to read out all their charges.

The prosecution says it will provide 100 witnesses and the testimony of several Israelis that link the men to the bombing.

A group linked to al-Qaeda has claimed responsibility for the attacks, which dealt a severe blow to Kenya's once thriving tourism industry.

Both the UK and the US have since warned of the threat of more terror attacks in Kenya.