Police in Kenya detain two suspects in murder of Italian bishop

Nairobi, Kenya, Jul 17, 2005 / 22:00 pm

Police in Kenya have detained two suspects who may have been involved in the murder of Bishop Luigi Locati, Apostolic Vicar of Isiolo, according to official sources.

Senior police officer Robert Kipkemei Kitur told Reuters that the two men were found with 18 rounds of ammunition.  Kitur added that the arresting officers had also recovered two spent cartridges from two different weapons. "One is believed to be a G-3 rifle and the other one an AK-47 rifle," he told Reuters.

Locati's death followed a week of clan violence in the lawless Marsabit district, just south of the Ethiopian border, in which at least 75 people were killed.

Joseph Samal, a development coordinator for the Apostolic Vicarate of Isiolo, said people were speculating that the killing was linked to local issues in Isiolo.

Martin Kivuva, also with the Vicarate, said he also did not believe Locati was targeted as a result of the Marsabit bloodshed. "Everything is possible, but people think the murder of Monsignor Locati was not connected with that violence," he told the Misna missionary news wire.  "The north of Kenya is a dangerous area where any traveler needs an escort and where not even the Church has enough protection," he said.