Suspected Al Qaeda Man Arrested Over Nairobi Bomb   Email This Page Print This Page Visit The Publisher's Site The Nation (Nairobi) March 20, 2003 Posted to the web March 20, 2003 Nation Reporter Nairobi A Yemeni national suspected to have been involved in the 1998 Nairobi bomb attack was arrested and flown to Kenya yesterday for interrogation. Internal Security minister Chris Murungaru said the man, suspected to be an Al-Qaeda operative, was arrested with the help of Somali leaders in Mogadishu, Somalia. Sources said the suspect, who reports in Nairobi and Mogadishu identified only as Mr Isse, was arrested at a hospital in the Karaan District of Mogadishu. Mr Murungaru declined to give details of the suspect, claiming in a statement that it would jeopardise investigations. Officials of the Transitional National Government (TNG) in Somalia and Nairobi confirmed the arrest and detention of the middle-aged man. The prime minister of the Transitional National Government in Somalia, Mr Ahmed Diriye, said the suspect was "snatched" from Kaysaney Hospital on Tuesday where he had been taken following a shoot-out between gunmen guarding him and others who attempted to kidnap him. The gunmen handed him to the Americans after he said he was a member of Al Qaeda. Speaking on the telephone, Mr Diriye said Mr Isse had lived in Mogadishu for "a couple of years" and owned a company called Sabriya Electronics. Prof Abdulrahman Ibrahim Bihi, the TNG's Information minister, would not give details but said he had received reports about the arrest. Meanwhile, other reports said the suspect could have been linked to the Al Qaeda as a result of vendetta among the militias in Somalia.