Officials release computer-generated sketches of suspects in Kenya attacks

MOMBASA, Kenya -- Police released computer-generated images Monday of two men believed to have taken part in the Nov. 28 attacks on two Israeli targets in Kenya.\nThe images of the unidentified men -- one bearded with a receding hairline, the other with a shaven face and head -- are based on information from witnesses, said Deputy Commissioner of Police William Langat. He said Kenyan police believed the men are in their 30s.\nThe men were described as "Arab-looking" by witnesses, Langat said. But many Kenyans living on the country's Indian Ocean coast are of Arab descent, and the suspects could be Kenyans or foreigners, he said.\nLangat refused to say which of the attacks -- the suicide car-bombing of a hotel or the firing missiles at an airliner -- the men are thought to have taken part in, saying only that "they were seen at one of the two locations around the time of the attacks."\nPolice do not know whether the men are still in Kenya but are "seeking support of the public in finding the men," Langat said.\nOn Nov. 28, unidentified assailants fired two missiles at a Boeing 757 Arkia Airlines charter as it was taking off from Mombasa airport with Israeli tourists returning to Tel Aviv.\nShortly afterward, a vehicle loaded with explosives plowed into the Paradise Hotel, 12 miles north of Mombasa on the Indian Ocean. Ten Kenyans, three Israelis and at least two bombers were killed by the blast at the hotel frequented by Israelis.\nSeveral days later, Osama bin Laden's al-Qaida network claimed responsibility for the attacks on an Islamic Web site.\nAl-Qaida then threatened faster, harder strikes against the United States and Israel in a statement attributed to the group that appeared Sunday on a militant Web site.\n"The Jewish Crusader coalition will not be safe anywhere from the fighters' attacks," the audio statement said, using a term common among Islamic militants for what they see as a U.S.-Israeli alliance.\n"We will hit the most vital centers and we will strike against its strategic operations with all possible means."\nThe statement was attributed to al-Qaida spokesman Sulaiman Abu Ghaith. The site, which has posted previous statements attributed to the terror network, included what appeared to be a photograph of Abu Ghaith taken from a video frame.\nThe attacks in Kenya were first claimed by the previously unknown Army of Palestine.\nIsrael believes al-Itihaad al-Islami, a Somali-based terror group with links to the al-Qaida network, carried out the two attacks, an Israeli security official said Monday on condition of anonymity.\nThe official said Israel did not have proof of al-Ittihad's involvement. And in Kenya, Langat disputed that possibility.\n"We can suspect anyone and everyone," Langat said. "But we have not gotten any information about" al-Itihaad taking part in the attack.\nAl-Itihaad has been named a terrorist group by Washington and is suspected of harboring al-Qaida fugitives.\nPolice are holding more than a dozen people for questioning in connection with the Kenya attacks, but Langat has said none of them are really considered to be suspects.