Kenyan separatists deny being behind deadly resort attack
A Kenyan separatist movement denied on Friday accusations by the authorities that it was behind a raid in a coastal resort that killed eight people, although it said former members may have been involved. Armed police officers shot dead six attackers and two policemen were killed in Thursday's early morning raid on a casino popular with tourists in Malindi. Officials blamed the banned Mombasa Republican Council (MRC). A series of attacks blamed on the movement have damaged prospects for growth and investment along Kenya's coast, a major tourist draw, and in Mombasa, an economically vital port city. "Police should stop using the MRC as a scapegoat for failing to protect Kenyans," senior MRC member Omar Bebo told Reuters. He said that criminal gangs "have taken advantage of our sour relationship with government to cause trouble". "Some of these gangs are formed by splinter groups of youths who decamped from the MRC because we rejected their ca