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Obama phones Kenyan president after mall attack

Monday - 9/23/2013, 3:20pm  ET

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WASHINGTON (AP) -- President Barack Obama has phoned Kenyan President Uhuru Kenyatta to express the United States' condolences after a terrorist attack on a Nairobi shopping mall.

The White House said Sunday that Obama also told Kenyatta the United States supports his country's effort to bring the al-Shabab network of Islamic extremists to justice for the deadly attack.

Al-Shabab is Somalia's al-Qaida-linked rebel group. It attacked an upscale shopping mall on Saturday, killing 59 people, and remains holed up with hostages a day later. The attackers said the strike was retribution for Kenyan forces' 2011 push into neighboring Somalia.

The White House also says during the morning call Obama reaffirmed the United States' partnership with the East African country.
