Albright threatens retaliation when facts are known

The US may have video footage of those who bombed its embassy in the Tanzanian capital, Dar es Salaam, officials have said.

The US may have video footage of those who bombed its embassy in the Tanzanian capital, Dar es Salaam, officials have said.

The number of Americans killed by Friday's explosion in the Kenyan capital, Nairobi, yesterday rose to 12 while at least 174 people are confirmed dead after the near-simultaneous blasts. Kenya's President Daniel arap Moi said the final toll from the explosions could exceed 200. Over 5,000 were reported injured.

The US Secretary of State, Ms Madeleine Albright, refused to speculate yesterday on who was responsible for the bombings - but said the US would retaliate if investigations show the attacks were ordered by another country.

At the same time, she warned that finding the truth might take a long time.

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"While there might be an instant gratification to do something about an attack on us, we have to be absolutely sure we have the facts straight," she said on NBC's Meet the Press.

"And the memory of the United States is very long, and our reach is very far." "There is no statute of limitations on any of these crimes," she said.

Hopes faded of rescuing any more people trapped in a Nairobi building levelled by the bomb aimed at the adjacent US embassy as forensic experts stepped up their investigations.

President Moi, who toured the bomb site yesterday after attending a memorial church service for the victims, said investigators were following a few leads in connection with the Kenyan blast. But a US diplomat in Tanzania revealed the first big breakthrough when he said a security camera in the embassy may have filmed the Dar es Salaam attack.

The camera was still in place atop the four-storey building yesterday, pointed towards the guardhouse and the embassy's main gate where the explosion occurred.

Attention is being focused on a blue water-delivery tanker, possibly carrying the bomb, which drew up to the embassy gates just before the blast.

The blast caused a crater more than one metre deep in front of the barrier to the embassy. Both the driver and assistant of the tanker were killed in the explosion, the diplomat said.

Yesterday a grey mist covered the Kenyan capital like a shroud and church bells pealed across the country in tribute to the dead.

The Supreme Council of Kenya Muslims, who make up about 10 per cent of Kenya's 30 million population, called the blast "a heinous act of terrorism".

At the weekend, a previously unknown Islamic group claimed responsibility for the twin bombings and vowed more attacks to drive American and Western troops from Muslim countries. It said the Nairobi bombing was carried out by two men from Mecca, in Saudi Arabia, while an Egyptian staged the Dar es Salaam attack. It did not mention the men's fate.

The group called itself "The Islamic Army for the Liberation of Holy Places". It was not immediately known if US investigators would give credence to the claim.

As the international rescue operation continued, US President Bill Clinton vowed to do everything possible to catch the culprits. Mr Clinton spoke as dozens of US medical assistants and forensic experts continued to arrive to help the east African nations cope with the tragedy.

They were joined by experts from South Africa, Israel, France, Britain and Germany. Offers of help came from India, Japan and scores of other countries as the operation took on the appearance of a grand military alliance.

Ms Prudence Bushnell, the US Ambassador to Kenya who was slightly injured in the blast, said the US had no idea who was responsible.