|
||||||||
  |
||||||||
|
||||||||
|
||||||||
|
||||||||
|
||||||||
|
|
|||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Zanzibar denies terror threat
STONETOWN, Zanzibar (CNN) -- Government officials have insisted their islands are safe despite warnings issued by the U.S. State Department and Britain's Foreign Office of possible terrorist attacks against Western interests on Zanzibar. The U.S. and UK issued travel advisory warnings last week to their citizens that hotels, restaurants and nightclubs could be terrorist targets. Zanzibar is part of the East African country of Tanzania, and its population is 90 percent Muslim. "There's a possibility that there could be a threat because we know Osama bin Laden has a worldwide network but we haven't found such terrorists in Zanzibar," said Zanzibar's Police Commissioner, Khalid Idd Nuizan. "Tourists should come to Zanzibar because there's peace and we'll do everything to ensure they are safe", Minister for Home Affairs, Mohammed Seif Khatib said in a press conference early this week. Zanzibar's Commission for tourism figures show that in 2000, 13,000 British tourists visited Zanzibar. Another 6,000 tourists were American and Canadian. Signs are that the number of tourists are starting to decrease. "In January we normally have bed occupancy of about 100 percent. Now we only have 40 percent and it is peak season for us at this time of year," said Godfrey Mahimbo, assistant Manager at Zanzibar Serena, a major hotel in Stonetown. Shipping sources say that tourist cruise ships are avoiding the East African coast especially after the bombing of the Israeli owned Mombasa Paradise Hotel on November 28 in Kenya. Zanzibar is composed of two main islands; Unguja and Pemba.
|
|
|||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
|
||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
|
||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
