NAIROBI – A Nairobi court on Monday ordered the release of a Kenyan-Somali terror suspect, on bail set at $122,000, thought to be linked to a car bomb that went off outside a police station three weeks ago, killing four people.
Ahmed Dugali Ali, whose car was used in the April 23 bombing, appeared on Sunday before Nairobi Resident Magistrate Esther Rienyi to answer two charges.
Ali is accused of providing the car used in the bombing and harboring one of the attackers – identified as Mohammed Abass Hassan – who was killed in the explosion, which also claimed lives of his alleged accomplice and two policemen.
The car had been impounded by police at a roadblock in Nairobi’s Pangani Police Station when it exploded.
Ali denies both charges.
When applying for bail, Ali’s lawyer, Mbugua Mureithi, had asked the court to take into account that his client had turned himself in to police after being told that his car had been used in a terrorist attack.
“[Ali’s] conduct should be rewarded by this court by setting lenient terms of bail. He has been in custody for the last 18 days, and he is a citizen of this country, Mureithi said.
“He was arrested after he presented himself to the police to offer details on how his motor vehicle was used without his consent,” the lawyer said.
Ali’s case is set to be heard by the court on July 1.
Meanwhile, two other men arrested and detained along with Ali one day after the blast – Abdiaziz Ali Bulle and Mohamed Abdullahi Falir – were both freed after anti-terrorism detectives told the court that they had no evidence linking them to the attack.
“They [the freed men] may appear as witnesses in the case,” one detective, who declined to disclose his name, told Anadolu Agency outside the courtroom.
Source-turkishpress.com
