Westgate Mall terror attack suspect surrenders, released after probe

Westgate Mall terror attack suspect surrenders, released after probe


Updated Monday, October 14th 2013 at 19:03 GMT +3


By Cyrus Ombati
Nairobi, Kenya: A former police officer thought to have participated in the Westgate Mall terror attack has surrendered to police to deny the accusations.


Mohamed Hussein, who was a former General Service Unit (GSU) officer and bodyguard to a High Court Judge surrendered to Wajir police CID boss Monday morning saying he never took part in the attack.
Anti-Terror police officers in the area grilled him for a while before releasing him after they were convinced he was not the one captured on CCTV clips shooting at the shoppers at the mall on September 21.
Nairobi head of CID Nicholas Kamwende who is among the team of detectives investigating the attack said they had confirmed the former GSU officer is alive and did not participate in the attack.
“That was speculation because he has turned himself in, talked to our officers and we can confirm he did not participate in the attack. He is a free man for now,” said Kamwende.
He added they are yet to get key suspects in the attack.
Detectives handling the case say they are also looking for at least eight suspects believed to have been directly involved in the attack. Four of them were captured on the CCTV footage at the mall.
“They probably arrived there in time to ensure everything was in order before they left as the terrorists struck,” said a senior official aware of the probe.
FBI agents —alongside investigators from Britain, Canada, Israel and Germany —were dispatched to investigate the crime scene.
There have been no details on what the international team has found so far in the bullet-scarred, scorched mall but they are expected to independently submit their reports.
Other officials say the team is frustrated because there are so many loose ends that are yet to be connected by the local detectives for them to be able to give their report.