Kenyan officials killed in helicopter crash

NAIROBI, Kenya -- Kenya's internal security minister was killed with five other people when the police helicopter they were traveling in crashed in a forest near Kenya's capital, officials said yesterday.

An anti-corruption crusader said the incident calls into question the government's procurement of airplanes and helicopters for its security forces.

Internal Security Minister George Saitoti and his deputy, Orwa Ojode, were among the six killed, Vice President Kalonzo Musyoka said. Two pilots and two bodyguards also died in the crash, officials said.

The death of Saitoti is a "great tragedy that has befallen our country at this time as we are making elaborate preparations to hold peaceful elections," Prime Minister Raila Odinga said at the scene of the crash, a forest in the city's outskirts.

Kenya's government declared three days of mourning for the crash victims.

It was not immediately clear what caused the accident. Odinga said Saitoti and Ojode were on their way to a political event in western Kenya.

An American-trained economist and mathematician, Saitoti was one of the most visible figures in Kenyan politics. For over a decade he was a deputy to former President Daniel arap Moi.

As security minister, analysts say, he played a key role in Kenya's decision to send troops to Somalia last year. Saitoti appeared often on national television to reassure the public in the aftermath of deadly attacks blamed on the Somali militant group al-Shabab.

Al-Shabab, in a message sent from its official Twitter account, welcomed "the death of the evil minister," saying Saitoti was "Better off dead!" The militant group blamed him for the suffering of Muslims in Somalia and Kenya. -- AP