CAPE TO CAIRO - 9

The man with the green T-shirt bearing the name "Paradise Hotel" introduces himself as Muli and blocks my way.
"You can`t come in here".
"Why not, I'm a journalist, and this is the first anniversary of the attack."
"How do I know that you're not from al Qaeda and are only dressed as a journalist?"

The response from the watchman who calls himself Muli (right) is typical of the atmosphere in Kikambala, a small village, 40 kilometres north of the tourist mecca Mombasa.

...to their deaths with a smile on their faces
This is where – on the morning of the 28th of November 2002 - a jeep loaded with explosives crashed through the safety barrier and sent 12 Kenyan hotel staff and 3 Israeli tourists to their deaths. According to eye-witnesses, the bombers, who were killed in the blast, went to their deaths with a smile on their faces.

Even thought Muli doesn't allow me through, its still easy to see the extent of the huge blast. Burnt out cars are still lying around in the garden. Morris, the second watchman, brings a piece of twisted metal – remains of the terror jeep found 250 metres away. The roof of the hotel complex which caught fire in the blast, is completely destroyed. In the tropical heat, plants are winding their way around the ruins.

Only a fraction of compensation paid out
At the time of the attack, Kenyans were about to go to the polls in a general election. Not surprisingly, both government and opposition promised generous compensation for relatives of the victims. So far, only a fraction of that has actually been paid out: 150,000 Kenya shillings or 1,600 Euros per family. By local standards, this is a sizeable chunk of money, but not enough for women like Dama Safari. Her husband, Safari Yaa Baya, was killed in the blast.He and other members of the dance group "Mabumbubumbu" had been waiting to give a warm welcome to the tourists. Five of the group lost their lives. Now his 30 year-old wife, Dama, has to provide for their nine children on her own.

Anniversary ceremony refused
Vincent Tuku is the spokesman for the victims` relatives. He is currently doing the rounds of the ministries in the hope of raising more money. But his chances do not look good. In the meantime, Tuku himself has found a job at another hotel and doesn't mind speaking openly about his former boss at the Paradise, the Israeli, Yehuda Sulami. He, apparently, tended to pay his staff – if at all - with drink and consumer goods and ignored countless warnings about inadequate security at his hotel which was frequented by Israeli tourists. He even refused to allow a ceremony marking the first anniversary of the tragedy to take place in the hotel grounds. What Tuku has to say confirms the bad reputation of Sulami – an extremely wealthy businessman who enjoyed the favours of the corrupt Moi regime.

Angry with Britain and America
Kikambala, one year on. "Kenyans are still mourning their lost Paradise" was the headline in "The Nation" on the anniversary. The attack was not just a personal tragedy for many Kenyans, it also had a devastating impact on the country's tourist industry (left). Now, just before Christmas, at the height of the season, a few hundred tourists have Kenya's wonderful beaches almost to themselves. Before the blast, taxi driver Kenny earned about 5,000 Kenya shillings or 55 Euros a day. Today, if he is lucky, he gets a customer every third day. Mohamed, assistant manager of the Whispering Palms Hotel, is also spending a lot of time in the shady garden of his hotel. He is angry with Britain and America for issuing travel warnings immediately after the attack – the kiss of death for Kenya's tourist industry. "Who warned tourists not to go to the United States after 9.11.?" asks Mohamed sarcastically. "The Americans cant even guarantee security in their own country, so why are they killing our tourist industry?"

"girls who come here, come from up country"
As I say goodbye to Muli, the watchman at the Paradise Hotel, he points to a building with a straw roof not far from the hotel complex. "That's where the Israelis and the Germans did jiga-jiga" – sex with young local women, the younger the better. Like many hotels here on the coast, the Paradise was a magnet for sex tourists. Locals still talk about the case of the young Kenyan prostitute who was tortured to death by seven Israelis. "We Muslims here on the coast condemn prostitution. The girls who come here, come from up country" says Muli disapprovingly. Ibrahim Ali, the head of a local Koran school had told me that very morning that Kenya's Muslims were united in their rejection of the attack on the Paradise Hotel. The attackers and those pulling the strings probably came from outside. But the "den of iniquity" they saw in the Paradise might have encouraged them in their appalling deed.

Mombasa, 3rd December 2003.