The U.S. Embassy in Dar es Salaam, Tanzania, following the August 7, 1998 bombing

August 4, 1999
Web posted at: 8:51 p.m. EDT (0051 GMT)

WASHINGTON (CNN) -- Tens of thousands of people are expected to gather in Nairobi, Kenya, Saturday for a world peace rally on the first anniversary of the bombings of two U.S. embassies in East Africa.

Plans for the event, sponsored by the Global Peace Initiative, were unveiled at a Capitol Hill press conference by Rep. J.C. Watts (R-Oklahoma) and Dr. K.A. Paul, an Indian religious leader who founded the initiative in the wake of the bombings in East Africa and another in Oklahoma City.

Nearly simultaneous bombings last August 7 at U.S. embassies in Nairobi and Dar es Salaam, Tanzania, killed 223 people, including 12 Americans. More than 4,000 others were injured.

The April 19, 1995 bombing of the Murrah Federal Building in Oklahoma City killed 168 and wounded 500 others.

In addition to the rally at the embassy bombing site in Nairobi, the Global Peace Initiative says people are expected to gather at 250,000 locations around the world to fast, pray and to "remember the suffering and courage of the survivors and rededicate themselves to the hard work of peace."

"The presence of so many people gathered together with courage and dignity will convey that message to the world," Paul said.

"We will remain committed and are committed to striving for a world free from the oppressiveness of hatred and violence," Watts said. "We ask Americans of all faiths to pray for peace whether it is in our own homes, our own communities, our own nation or in countries far away."

Kenyan President Daniel arap Moi is expected to join the rally "for a day filled with music and speeches designed to affirm that peace is possible," Paul said.

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