(27 Jun 2005) SHOTLIST
1. Exterior of Nairobi court house.
2. Interior of court house with sign saying "Chief Magistrate court"
3. Wide shot inside the court
4. Close up of female relatives wearing veils
5. The three suspects enter court room Kubwa Mohammed Seif (in blue robes), Said Saggar Ahmed (in grey robes) and Salmin Mohammed Khamis (in white robes)
Close up of Said Saggar Ahmed and Salmin Mohammed Khamis
6. SOUNDBITE: (English) Kirathe Wandugi, defence lawyer
"They have been acquitted of all offences, we are very happy. It's been a very long two and half years, they have gone through about four trials, so we are very happy that it is all over at the end of the day."
7. Mid shot of Aboud Rgo, another suspect, who was released on June 9th 2005.
STORYLINE
A court in Kenya has acquitted three Kenyan men have were charged in an al-Qaida-linked bombing of an Israeli-owned hotel and attempt to shoot down an Israeli airliner.
The acquittals mean the first attempts by authorities in the East African country to seek convictions against alleged terrorists have yielded no convictions, though one of the men found not guilty in an earlier trial faces additional charges.
In Monday's ruling, Nairobi Chief Magistrate Aggrey Muchelule said that none of the evidence presented by the prosecution connected the three men - Kubwa Mohammed Seif, Said Saggar Ahmed and Salmin Mohammed Khamis - to the bombing or to the attempt to down the plane in November 2002.
Fifteen people died in the hotel bombing.
Muchelule said the prosecution failed "beyond reasonable doubt to prove its case against the
accused persons. "
An earlier trial acquitted four other men of murder in the car bombing of the hotel, which was in Kikambala, about 20 kilometres (12 miles) north of the port of Mombasa.
One of the men acquitted in the murder trial was later charged with illegal possession of five anti-tank weapons and a hand grenade.
Defence lawyers had charged the hotel murder trial was the result of pressure from America, Britain and Israel for Kenya to take action - an allegation Kenyan officials deny.
Seif, Ahmed and Khamis had also earlier been charged with conspiring to blow up the United States' Embassy in Nairobi in 1998 and 2003, but the prosecution dropped those charges on May 10.
Seif's lawyer, Kirathe Wandugi, said that he was extremely happy with the magistrate's decision.
He said that his client and the other two may consider suing the government for wrongful arrest because they believe their being held in custody for about two and half years was due to pressure from the United States.
Osama bin Laden's al-Qaida terror network claimed responsibility for the hotel bombing and for an almost simultaneous attempt to shoot down the Israeli charter airliner taking off from nearby Mombasa airport.
The shoulder-fired missiles narrowly missed the aircraft.
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