TOTAL DEVASTATION
August 7, 1998

Two bomb explosions rocked U.S. embassies in the African countries of Kenya and Tanzania. Following this interview with Asst. Secretary of State Susan Rice, three experts discuss the attacks.

 

Online Special: African Embassy Bombings Feb. 5, 2001: The embassy bombing trial begins. Jan. 8, 2000: Two panels deliver their findings in the bombing cases. Sept. 30, 1998: An international team searches for suspects in the bombing cases. Aug. 25, 1998: Battling international terrorism. Aug. 21, 1998: Samuel Berger discusses U.S. missile attacks on Sudan and Afghanistan. Aug. 21, 1998: Diplomats from Sudan and Afghanistan respond to the U.S. attack. Aug. 20, 1998: Four Congressmen discuss the U.S. Attack Aug. 20, 1998: Who is Osama bin Laden? Aug. 12, 1998: A look at possible leads in the bombing cases. Aug. 10, 1998: Could the embassy bombings have been prevented? Aug. 7, 1998: Security and policy experts on the embassy bombings. Aug. 7, 1998: Asst. Sec. of State Susan Rice on the bombings. Complete NewsHour coverage of Africa, the Middle East and international issues.   U.S. State Department U.S. State Department Travel Warnings & Consular Information Sheets International Policy Institute for Counter-Terrorism	ELIZABETH FARNSWORTH: We are joined now by Susan Rice, Assistant Secretary of State for African Affairs. Thank you for being with us. Could you bring us up to date and give us the most recent casualty figures, since we're getting different figures from different sources for both embassies, both cities. SUSAN RICE, Assistant Secretary of State: Yes, Elizabeth. Our information is most accurate, as it pertains to American citizens and those employed by our embassies. The latest information from Nairobi is that eight Americans, eight official Americans have been killed. There are another six who are missing and unaccounted for. And approximately 14 who are in hospital receiving treatment. Some of them are quite seriously injured. We have many others who have been injured, many other casualties, including a number of the Kenyan foreign service nationals who work in our embassy. The death toll among that group and among the Kenyan population is something that we are still all awaiting further information on. In Dar es Salaam, Tanzania, no Americans were killed, and we have no reason to believe that we'll get different information on that at this stage. A number were seriously injured. One was Medivacced out of the country, and we did, unfortunately, lose five Tanzanians who were employed by our embassy. ELIZABETH FARNSWORTH: We just heard that graphic report from Clive Mutiso. Can you tell us what you're hearing from Dar Es Salaam. He was talking about Nairobi. SUSAN RICE: Well, I think the situation in Dar Es Salaam is a little bit less chaotic and grave than it appears to be in Nairobi. The blast was quite severe. It did major structural damage to our embassy, as well as to surrounding facilities. There were, as I mentioned, a number killed, as well as a number seriously injured, but the numbers appear to be on a much smaller scale than is the case in Kenya. ELIZABETH FARNSWORTH: Can you tell us anything about the explosives? Do you know what they were? Would you say that these were bombs? SUSAN RICE: At this stage, Elizabeth, we have to say that that's a law enforcement matter for investigation. We will look forward to the evidence and the forensics giving us clear word on that.
	An explosion without warning
	ELIZABETH FARNSWORTH: Did you have any warnings? SUSAN RICE: We had no telephone warning or call of any sort like that, that might have alerted either embassy just prior to the blast. And beyond that, as we go through the investigation, we'll look for other information that might have been helpful. ELIZABETH FARNSWORTH: Have you gotten any calls, any information from groups claiming responsibility? SUSAN RICE: We have not-the U.S. Government has not gotten any calls directly. A Cairo-based newspaper has received one claim. We have no further information at this stage, no reason to assume that it's credible. ELIZABETH FARNSWORTH: Who was the group that claimed responsibility there? SUSAN RICE: I don't have the name handy. It was not a well-known group. ELIZABETH FARNSWORTH: As you know, there were news reports saying that a banned Egyptian group, who was upset over the extradition of some of their members from Albania, which the U.S. apparently had a hand in, had threatened American installations, I think this week. Any credibility in that? SUSAN RICE: I can't comment on the specifics of that threat, but let me say that we receive threats-I'm told-as many as 30,000 a year to our facilities around the world. They're all taken seriously; they're all investigated. But we have nothing to suggest any direct link to what has happened today. As I said, again, that's going to be a question for the investigators to look into.
	A U.S. security issue?
	ELIZABETH FARNSWORTH: Assistant Secretary Rice, what kind of American help, official help, is on its way right now? SUSAN RICE: We have a great deal of assistance on the way to help both our American citizens on the ground, as well as the Kenyan and Tanzanian citizens who have suffered so gravely in this tragedy. That help falls into a variety of categories. We have planes in the air transporting medical equipment, supplies, and personnel. We have law enforcement teams on the way to begin the process of investigation. We will bring in all sorts of various equipment and experts who can help in the search and rescue effort, and do our utmost to render the services to the individuals who are injured and otherwise in danger. ELIZABETH FARNSWORTH: At this point, do you have any idea of why those embassies were chosen? SUSAN RICE: No. We have no idea why terrorists pick the targets that they do. That is something that perhaps we'll learn in the course of the investigation. ELIZABETH FARNSWORTH: Were they particularly easy to get to, these embassies? One report-I don't know if it was right-said that the explosion occurred in the parking lot of the embassy in Tanzania. Is that true? SUSAN RICE: I think it's too soon to know exactly where the explosives might have been placed. Obviously, they were quite proximate to both our embassy compounds, and that's a large reason why they did such a great deal of the damage. ELIZABETH FARNSWORTH: Were either of these embassies particularly vulnerable because they had not been upgraded to be more impervious to bombing? SUSAN RICE: Well, these embassies, like a number of our facilities around the world, which have been built many years back, do not have the same degree of security in place that would be the case were it to be a new embassy built today. And, as a consequence, the facilities that we're talking about in both these places were not state of the art facilities. ELIZABETH FARNSWORTH: And what instructions are being issued now to other embassies? SUSAN RICE: All of our embassies around the world have received warning of this, notice of this, and are taking appropriate precautions. We maintain a high degree of security at all of our embassies at all times, and obviously that high degree of security has been increased even further as a result of this information. ELIZABETH FARNSWORTH: In what way? SUSAN RICE: Well, I don't want to get into the specifics of that. As you can imagine, that may be more useful to people who have unhelpful motives. ELIZABETH FARNSWORTH: Okay. Madame Assistant Secretary, thank you very much for being with us. SUSAN RICE: Thank you.