A spokesman for the interim Somali government said Sunday that prisoners transferred from Kenya yesterday included wives of suspected al-Qaeda operatives wanted by the American government. Abdiraman Dinari was speaking about 23 prisoners of war caught by Kenyan authorities in security operations along the common border, including Islamic Courts fighters. Two of the prisoners are the wives of suspected al-Qaeda militants wanted in connection with the 1998 U.S. Embassy bombings in Kenya and Tanzania, according to Dinari.Kenyan police detained the wives earlier this month. Dinari said other prisoners included foreign fighters from Tanzania, Yemen, Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates, Syria, Ethiopia, Comoros, Kenya, Jordan and Morocco. Independent sources confirmed to Garowe Online that 32 prisoners were unloaded from the plane Saturday, blind-folded with their hands ties, and taken to an undisclosed location for further questioning.
The U.S. military admitted that its warplanes failed to kill the 3 high-profile al-Qaeda targets during air raids in southern Somalia earlier this month.
Meanwhile in Mogadishu, Somali authorities released 8 people working for the Elman Peace and Human Rights Agency who were arbitarily detained yesterday for questioning. Elman's chairman, Sudani Ali Ahmed, confirmed the release of all 8 employees Sunday, but accused government soldiers of using "illegal methods" during the interrogation.