KENYA: Four Kenyans were charged with 13 counts of murder in Nairobi yesterday for their alleged involvement in last November's suicide bombing of an Israeli-owned hotel on the Indian Ocean coast, Declan Walsh Nairobi.
The men - an Islamic preacher, a teacher, a father and son - stood impassively in the dock as prosecutors read the names of the victims of the attack on the Paradise Hotel, which was widely attributed to al-Qaeda.
One of the men, Muhammed Kubwa, is related to Fazul Abdullah Mohammed, a fugitive suspected of involvement in both the November attack and the 1998 US embassy bombing in Nairobi.
Mr Kubwa, his father Kubwa Muhammed Seif, Islamic preacher Abud Rogo Mohammed and teacher Said Saggar Ahmed were detained until the next hearing on July 8th.
Kenya is in a state of high alert following US warnings last Friday of a fresh terrorist strike. But for most Kenyans, the greatest threat is to the ailing tourist industry.
Direct British Airways flights to Nairobi remain suspended, while the UK and US have warned their citizens against all non-essential travel. The new, fortress-like US embassy has been closed since Friday after "specific" intelligence warnings of an "imminent" attack.
Armed policemen with sniffer dogs search cars entering Nairobi's upmarket shopping centres. Cinema-goers are frisked and some have stayed away from nightclubs frequented by expatriates.
Even the apparently invincible Harry Potter has been hit. Last Saturday only a trickle of customers ventured into one of Nairobi's most prominent bookstores to pick up their copy of The Order of the Phoenix.
"It was strangely quiet," said Chand Bahal of Book Stop in the Yaya Centre, where customers fled three weeks ago after text messages surged round Nairobi warning of an impending terrorist attack.
"Even people who had reserved a copy of the book rang to apologise. They were too scared to come." The warnings have generated a swell of resentment among Kenyans hoping for a return to prosperity after last December's peaceful elections.
Instead they have hit by a sharp slump. Tourism, a key foreign currency earner, has been devastated. Empty tents in safari parks and echoing corridors at coastal resorts are signs of a flood of cancellations.
"Our business is on the verge of collapse," said Mr Jake Grieves Cook, chairman of the Kenya Tourist Federation.
Most tourist hotels have occupancy rates of between zero and 20 per cent.
The industry as a whole is losing €870,000 a day, he said and many workers were on forced leave or half-pay.
At the Safari Park Hotel outside Nairobi general manager Mr Mike Round Turner said one fifth of the 285 workers were on compulsory, unpaid leave.
"It's been a disastrous year," he said. "First the elections, then the Iraq war, then SARS, now this." Placing Kenya on the same security level as war-torn countries such as the Angola and Burundi was "illogical," said Mr Grieves Cook. "The idea that someone in a safari camp is at greater risk than a London hotel is laughable." The US and UK argue that Kenya's internal security, previously marred by corruption and scant resources, must improve before the travel advisories can be lifted. Some measures have already been taken.
Kenya has suspended all air traffic with war-torn Somalia, which the US accuses of harbouring al-Qaeda sympathisers,.
The flight path into Nairobi's Jomo Kenyatta airport has been secured by the army. The perimeter fence is to be strengthened.
Yesterday's court case was seen as an attempt to counter criticisms by the US of Kenya's failure to apprehend al-Qaeda suspects.