MOMBASA, Kenya, 29 November 2002 — In what a senior Israeli diplomat immediately dubbed a “wake-up call from hell by Al-Qaeda,” two Israeli targets were simultaneously attacked by terrorists in Kenya yesterday. If that judgment is correct, these would be the first direct attacks on Israelis by Bin Laden’s group. (See also edit, analysis on page 18)

A suicide bomb attack blew up a Mombasa hotel full of Israeli holidaymakers, killing 15 including the three bombers, just minutes after two missiles narrowly missed an Israeli airliner taking off from the nearby airport.

Kenyan officials also swiftly blamed the Al-Qaeda network. However, a previously unheard-of group calling itself the “Army of Palestine” sent a claim of responsibility to the Reuters news agency, saying the attacks were carried out to mark the anniversary of the 1947 UN resolution partitioning Palestine between Arabs and Jews. There was no confirmation of the claim.

Kenyan police said they were questioning two people seized near the scene of the hotel blast. According to Kenya’s Police Commissioner, Philemon Abong’o, nine Kenyans believed to be hotel workers, three guests believed to be Israelis and three suicide bombers not yet identified were those killed in the blast.

Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon has tasked the Mossad intelligence services with investigating the attacks, adviser Zalman Shoval said.

Witnesses spoke of Israeli tourists and other survivors streaked with blood and dust staggering to the beach from the shattered Israeli-owned Mombasa Paradise resort hotel, screaming for water.

Wreckage of the bombers’ car, which blew up in the hotel lobby, was left 15 meters from the smoldering rubble of the entrance to the Israeli-owned hotel.

A human jaw lay on the ground near the mangled metal.

Some 140 Israeli tourists had just stepped off the targeted Arkia flight and checked into the hotel. Many were having breakfast in the dining room overlooking the beach when the blast occurred.

“Half of us had finished checking in at reception and had gone up to our rooms when the blast happened. I didn’t see anything, I just heard this huge explosion and all the windows blew in,” said guest Bitton Shalom.

“It was a big bomb, at least ten kilos of TNT, and we rushed out of our bedrooms,” Bitton said. “Around 7:30 a.m., we heard a massive explosion. The entire building shook,” witness Kelly Hartog wrote on the website of Israel’s Jerusalem Post newspaper. “I saw people covered with blood, including children.”

Minutes before the hotel blast, missiles were fired at an Israeli Arkia airliner carrying 261 passengers as it took off from Mombasa’s airport.

“About two kilometers from the airport, two missiles were fired at the aircraft from a white Pajero (jeep) by some people who are suspected to be of Arab origin. Both missiles missed the aircraft,” police spokesman Kimgori Mwangi said.

Ezra Gozlan, a passenger sitting at the back of the plane, said he saw a missile fly over the wing moments after take-off.

“All the wheels were in the air and then we heard the explosion. It (the missile) went about one meter above the wing,” he said. The plane landed safely in Israel, escorted by Israeli air force jets.

“We spotted two white smoke trails passing us on the left side, from the rear to the front, and disappearing after a few seconds,” pilot Rafi Marik said.

A Kenyan security source said it was believed the attackers used shoulder-borne missile launchers.

Investigators said they did not rule out a link between the crash of a light plane which took off from Mombasa early yesterday, killing at least one person and injuring seven, and the two attacks on Israelis. The light aircraft carrying tourists crashed in southwest Kenya after taking off from Mombasa.

US President George W. Bush deplored the bloody attacks on Israeli targets in Kenya, but said it was “premature” to blame the strikes on Al-Qaeda. “We deplore the violence,” said White House spokesman Gordon Johndroe, adding that it was “premature to rule Al-Qaeda in or out.” Johndroe said the United States was “ready to help” both Kenyan and Israeli authorities track down who was behind the morning attacks.

Britain, Germany, Russia, Italy, Spain and the European Union condemned the attacks, saying it underscored the threat of terrorism but added there was no firm evidence linking the bombing and the missile attack to Al-Qaeda. (Agencies)