Two Iranians and their Kenyan driver, who worked for the Iranian Embassy in Nairobi, were charged Thursday with collecting information for a terrorist attack on the Israeli Embassy in Kenya, a local prosecutor said. The suspects were named as Sayed Nasrollah Ebrahimi, Abdolhosein Ghola Safafe and driver Moses Keyah Mmboga. Ebrahimi and Safafe "were found taking video clips of the Israeli Embassy in Nairobi for the use in the commission of a terrorist act," while Mmboga was arrested as their accomplice," the prosecutor said, adding the evidence suggested the two suspects had met with two other Iranian nationals held in a Kenyan prison for terrorist crimes. The three men were in a car belonging to the Iranian Embassy when they were arrested on Tuesday, court papers said. The diplomatic status of the two Iranians was unclear. The Iranian Embassy did not respond to requests for comment. "My clients pleaded not guilty and have been detained by the ATPU [Kenya's Anti-Terrorism Police Unit] for further interrogation," the three's attorney said. In 2002, two terrorist attacks targeted Israeli locations in Mombasa, the second largest city in Kenya. On Nov. 28, a vehicle loaded with explosives crashed into the Israeli owned Paradise Hotel in Mombasa. Three Israelis, two of whom were minors, and 10 of the hotel's Kenyan employees were killed in the blast. The second attack took place moments later, when two shoulder-launched surface-to-air missiles were fired at an Arkia owned Boeing 757 charter flight from Mombasa to Tel Aviv. The missiles missed, and over 200 lives were spared.
2 Iranians indicted for planning attack on Israeli Embassy in Kenya
Sayed Nasrollah Ebrahimi and Abdolhosein Ghola Safafe are arrested after they were found staking out the Israeli Embassy in Nairobi in an Iranian Embassy car • Suspects' driver faces charges as an accomplice • All three deny the allegations.
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