Some Kenyans Blame The U.S.
The U.S. Embassy in Nairobi is holding a memorial service Friday for its 234 Kenyan employees who died in the embassy bombing Aug.7.
CBS News Correspondent Allen Pizzey reports that Kenyans are continuing to mourn as they come to grips with the tragedy, but there is a bitter aftertaste toward America in their sorrow.
The bodies of 10 of the 12 American victims of the twin embassy bombings arrived to an emotional greeting Thursday at Andrews Air Force Base outside Washington.
Tears streaming down his face, President Clinton watched as the flag-draped caskets were unloaded. "Each of them had an adventurous spirit, a generous soul," said Mr. Clinton. "Each relished the chance to see the world and to make it better."
Meanwhile, U.S.. Ambassador Prudence Bushnell says three Kenyan staff members and two other Kenyans still are missing.
In a show of unity and grief, Christian and Muslim members of Kenya's parliament laid a huge wreath of red and white roses Friday at the bombing site.
In terms of the number of dead and wounded, this would be a disaster for any country, Pizzey reports, but in Kenya, where the only safety net is an extended family, it is even more devastating.
"Most of the people who died in the bomb blast are really the breadwinners of the families," one man explained.
Losses to business in the blast area are estimated in the hundreds of millions of dollars and some small business people say they may never recover.
The bomb blast did provoke a spirit of unity, Pizzey reports, as survivors begin to cope, they cite Kenya's national motto: "Harambee," which means self help.
Despite this, there is an almost universal demand in Kenya that the U.S. offer compensation to bombing victims and their families.
Newspapers, filled with death notices for bomb victims, were also full of columns and letters to the editor that complained that the United States tried only to save its own citizens after the blast.
"You could show us a little more sympathy, America," said one headline in the East Africa Standard. The vast majority of those killed were Africans.
"There was like a biasness that they were only helping their kind," a young girl said.
"We were not the targets," one Kenyan man pointed out. "We are suffering because of some other people's relations."
In another sad pilgrimage to the ruins, a group of Kenyan women, each carrying a red or white rose and many weeping, offered prayers for the dead.
"Women in Pain," said a banner they carried.
"Who can approve of terrorism?" Cardinal Jozef Tomko, head of the Vatican missionary service, said after praying for the dead and wounded. "We must find another way of living together on this earth. Look at it: It is so beautiful. Why this? Why?"