NAIROBI, Dec 3: Security at two 2003 World Cup matches due to take place in Nairobi will be stepped up after last week’s suicide bombing in Mombasa, Kenyan cricket officials said Tuesday. Kenya has also appealed to South Africa, the World Cup hosts, to help pay for Kenya’s home matches against New Zealand and Sri Lanka in February.

“Recent events in Mombasa have reinvigorated the need to plan airtight security measures which we shall recommend to the government,” Tony Sahni, head of the security sub-committee for the Kenyan organisers, told reporters.

A suicide bombing killed the three bombers, three Israelis and 10 Kenyans at an Israeli-owned hotel in the coastal resort of Mombasa on Thursday. An almost simultaneous missile attack narrowly missed an Israeli airliner taking off nearby.

It was the African country’s bloodiest bomb attack since the 1998 U.S. embassy bombings widely thought to be the work of guerrillas linked to Saudi-born militant Osama bin Laden and his al Qaeda network.

South Africa will host the majority of the World Cup matches, with Zimbabwe and Kenya staging six and two matches respectively.

The Kenyan event has been dogged by controversy over who will cover the cost of hosting the two visiting teams.

Kenya Cricket Association (KCA) officials said Ian Smith, chairman of the World Cup finance and administration sub-committee, said last week that the KCA would have to pay.

He said they have budgeted $75,000 for the two matches, with most of the money going towards security and accommodation.

Ghai said the Kenyans had already put in place tighter security measures recommended by the main organisers following the Sept 11, 2001 attacks on the United States.—Reuters