The bodies of Americans killed in the embassy bombing in Kenya received a hero's homecoming yesterday from President Clinton who tearfully vowed to track down their murderers. "They perished in the service of the country for which they gave so much in life," Mr Clinton said.
The US President and his wife, Hillary, both dressed in black, emerged pale from meeting privately with the families of the victims to watch the solemn arrival of the flag-draped coffins.
Ten of the 12 Americans killed in the August 7th bombing had been escorted back to US soil by the US Secretary of State, Ms Madeleine Albright, from Germany, where she also met Americans wounded in the blast.
The dead were given a full-dress military tribute at Andrews Air Force Base outside Washington, where a caravan of black hearses were waiting to carry them to a mortuary in Delaware.
A total 258 people died in the twin bombings at the US embassies in Kenya and Tanzania, and nearly 5,000 were injured. No Americans were killed in the Dar Es Salaam blast.
"No matter what it takes, we must find those responsible for these evil acts," said Mr Clinton.
Relatives of the victims held pictures of their loved ones as the band played Nearer My God to Thee.
Mr Clinton promised to honour the victims by refusing to back down on the fight against such violence. "Terrorists target America because we act and stand for peace and democracy," he said. "It is the burden of our history and the bright hope of the world's future."
Ms Albright noted that many more Kenyans were killed in the attack, and said: "The people on every continent must unite in defeating terror."
Meanwhile, the FBI reported that its probe into the car-bombing in Nairobi was "progressing well" and Kenyan police arrested five suspects. In neighbouring Tanzania, where the US embassy was bombed just minutes after the blast in Kenya, police were questioning 13 people - six Iraqis, six Sudanese and a Turk.
A senior Kenyan government source said, however, that those arrested were not considered prime suspects, adding: "The case has a long way to go."
A curiously worded statement issued by the Kenyan President, Mr Daniel arap Moi, suggested he was starting to take note of a growing wave of resentment at what some Kenyans see as US discrimination immediately after the blast. Critics accuse US authorities of showing a lack of regard for Kenyan victims.
"The government is grateful that many Kenyans, especially members of the public, have provided and continue to provide useful information to the various branches of the Kenya police who are in charge of these investigations," the statement said. The words "Kenyans" and "Kenya police" were capitalised.
Local newspapers said the bodies of 10 white Americans and a citizen of Asian extraction were taken to a private mortuary, while those of Kenyan staff were dumped in the city mortuary. The body of the 12th American, who was black, was recovered from the pile of Kenyan corpses three days later, they said.
The US ambassador, Ms Prudence Bushnell, denied the accusations. "We were rescuing people. People are people. There was no determination of race." Ms Bushnell told CNN she had asked Washington to lift a travel advisory to US citizens not to visit Kenya.
. Police evacuated the Hilton hotel in central Nairobi yesterday after a bomb alert, following a FBI news conference.