Wednesday, November 20, 2013
(From Right)- Abdi Mohamed Ahmed, Liban Abdulle Omar, Adan Mohamed Ibrahim and Hussein Mustafa Hassan, the four men charged Monday in connection with the Westgate mall massacre, at a Kenyan court prior to a hearing in Nairobi on November 11, 2013 (AFP/File, Tony Karumba)
Nairobi — "I am a Muslim who believes in the sanctity of human life, and had nothing to do with the murderous attack on the Westgate Mall whatsoever," said Adan Mohamed Abidkadir Adan during a bail application.
At least 67 people died in the four-day attack in the upmarket shopping centre, claimed by Somalia's Al-Qaeda-linked Shebab. They said it was a warning to Kenya to pull its troops out of southern Somalia, where they are fighting the extremists as part of an African Union force.
Adan, along with three other suspects -- Mohammed Ahmed Abdi, Liban Abdullah Omar and Hussein Hassan Mustafa --
All the gunmen in the Westgate attack -- totalling just four, not the dozen that security forces initially reported -- are understood to have died during the attack.
Interpol and the FBI are assisting Kenya in trying to identify four bodies believed to be those of the attackers.
Two of the gunmen -- who the four are accused of supporting -- are named in court documents as Mohammed Abdinur Said and Hassan Abdi Dhuhulow, a 23-year old Somali who spent time in Norway.
Like the attackers, the four suspects are all ethnic Somalis, but it is unclear whether they are Somali or Kenyan citizens.
Adan, who is due to learn later this month whether his bail application is approved, insisted Wednesday that he was a Kenyan citizen and that his papers are genuine.
The trial is not expected to begin in earnest until mid-January.
Western sources familiar with the investigation suggest the evidence concerning the suspects is credible enough to warrant a trial.
Witnesses in the mall described how the fighters stormed the crowded complex, firing from the hip and hurling grenades at shoppers and staff.