Osama bin Laden's al Qaeda network claimed responsibility for the twin attacks in Kenya which killed 16 people in an audio tape aired today.
"I hereby confirm what has been issued by al Qaeda political office regarding our responsibility for the Mombasa attacks in Kenya," an al Qaeda spokesman, Sulaiman Bu Ghaith, said in a statement aired by Qatar's al Jazeera channel.
Bu Ghaith is one of the leading al Qaeda members being sought by the United States and has been in hiding since the US launched its attack on Afghanistan last October.
Earlier, an Israeli security source said the Jewish state had received intelligence warning of plans by al Qaeda to attack Jews and Israelis in Prague.
Israel has named al Qaeda as the prime suspect in a suicide bombing at a hotel in Mombasa in November that killed 13 Kenyans and three Israelis and a failed attempt to shoot down with missiles an Israeli airliner taking off nearby.