From: Juma Mzuri
The FBI’s legal attaché, or legat, program places Bureau personnel in more than 60 countries around the world. Working primarily through U.S. Embassies, our employees serve at the pleasure of host country governments, and their core mission is to establish and maintain liaison with local law enforcement and security services. Such partnerships are critical in the fight against international terrorism, cyber crime, and a range of other criminal and intelligence matters.
FBI.gov recently sat down with Dennis Brady, the Bureau’s legal attaché in Nairobi, Kenya, to talk about our partnerships with the Kenyans and our work in that region of the world.
Q: What are the key threats in Kenya that impact Americans and U.S. interests?
Brady: The terrorist organization al Shabaab has been the biggest threat we face. Members of that group use IEDs [improvised explosive devices] to carry out terrorist attacks. They are known to throw grenades into local buses and attack local police officers. They also have a history of kidnapping Americans in Somalia—an area that our legat office covers. Piracy in Somalia is also a continuing threat.
Q: What types of FBI personnel are posted to Legat Nairobi?
Brady: In addition to our administrative and support staff, we have a special agent bomb technician, a member of the FBI’s counterterrorism fly team, and a Hostage Rescue Team operator embedded on a permanent rotating basis. So when something happens—a kidnapping or an act of terror or piracy—we can respond immediately with a full range of Bureau expertise.
Q: Is that expertise also used to help train Kenyan law enforcement?
Brady: Absolutely. Training is one of our key functions, and it’s been going on for years. We train Kenyan law enforcement personnel in a variety of disciplines, including crime scenes, IEDs, and tactics. We also provide instruction in areas such as fingerprinting, cyber investigations, evidence collection, intelligence analysis, interview techniques, and major case management. In the past few years, the Bureau has conducted more than 40 training sessions in Kenya and has trained more than 800 individuals. We also have 10 Kenyan graduates of the FBI’s National Academy who are still active in law enforcement. The Kenyans are very receptive to everything we offer and are enthusiastic, active participants in the process. What we provide supplements their own training and significantly improves their capacity to do their jobs.
Q: Does the training have other benefits?
Brady: Yes, it further strengthens our working relationship with the Kenyans and reminds us of how much we have in common. Kenya was formerly a British colony and has a European-style legal system. The police and defense forces are separate, and the country operates its law enforcement and courts under the rule of law. Kenya also has an extradition treaty with the U.S., so when we locate fugitives, we can get them removed through the legal process and extradited back to the U.S. to face justice. All of these things make for good partnerships, and that becomes critical when you are responding to a crisis like the Westgate Mall terror attack a few months ago. In a life and death situation like that, everyone needs to know they can rely on one another.
Q: On September 21, 2013, al Shabaab gunmen attacked the Westgate shopping mall in Nairobi. Over a period of several days, they killed more than 70 people. What was the FBI’s response?
Brady: The attack started on a Saturday. I was called to the embassy, and we immediately began securing resources to assist the Kenyans. Our people were on the scene from the first day. The FBI’s role was—and continues to be—to facilitate, enable, and assist the Kenyan investigation and prosecution regarding a crime that occurred largely against Kenyan citizens on their soil.
Q: After the attack ended, what was the crime scene like?
Brady: Very complicated. Westgate was a large mall, four stories, with underground parking and an attached parking structure. In the process of fighting the attackers, there were explosions and a fire. The area where the attackers were had home furnishings that caught fire. The fire spread and continued to burn, causing that part of the structure to collapse into a pit that smoldered for weeks.
Q: Was it dangerous for investigators working to collect evidence?
Brady: It’s amazing we got our Evidence Response Team [ERT] people down into that pit. It was a very difficult place to work. While ERT was doing its work, every now and then a propane tank would explode or vehicles on the edge of the collapse would fall in and catch fire. But there was a lot of attention paid to the soundness of the structure and where we could reasonably collect evidence. Safety of the investigators was paramount. We had an FBI structural engineer and hazardous materials experts on scene in addition to our other assets. At the height of the initial investigation, the Bureau had more than 80 people on the ground there.
Q: Where does the investigation stand now?
Brady: The Kenyans have charged four individuals in connection with the terror attack, and the case is moving through the court process. The four are directly connected to the individuals who physically carried out the attack. Nobody is under the impression that we have fully identified the entire network in this attack, however. That’s why the investigation continues.
Q: There have been conflicting reports about what happened to the gunmen. Can you comment?
Brady: We believe, as do the Kenyan authorities, that the four gunmen inside the mall were killed. Our ERT made significant finds, and there is no evidence that any of the attackers escaped from the area where they made their last stand. Three sets of remains were found. Also, the Kenyans were on the scene that first day and set up a very secure crime scene perimeter, making an escape unlikely. Additionally, had the attackers escaped, it would have been publicly celebrated and exploited for propaganda purposes by al Shabaab. That hasn’t happened.
Q: All in all, are you pleased with how the legat responded to the crisis?
Brady: Very much so. Our people stood shoulder to shoulder with the Kenyans through some very difficult days. It’s also worth noting that it wasn’t just Americans helping the Kenyans. It was an international effort. But yes, I am proud of how the legat responded and how we were able to assist our host country when they most needed us.
http://www.fbi.gov/news/stories/2014/january/a-conversation-with-our-legal-attache-in-nairobi-part-2