Saturday, March 28, 2009

Three held over Somalia terrorist links

Three suspects are under police interrogation in connection with being members of terrorist groups operating from Somalia.

The three were arrested on Sunday by anti-terrorist unit police officers in Malindi as the travelled from Lamu.

Malindi District Criminal Investigations Officer Mr John Kariuki said police were on high alert as the North Coast border with Somalia has been declared a "porous zone".

"The three suspects, a woman and two men were arrested by anti-terrorist officers from Mombasa around Gongoni area and locked up at Malindi police station for interrogation," said Mr Kariuki.

He said the three claimed to be Kenyans but only one of them was able to produce identification to prove his Kenyan nationality, said the DCIO.

"The suspects claimed they were coming from celebrating Maulidi in Lamu," said Mr Kariuki. However, police were still trying to establish their link with terrorist units operating in the volatile Somali and whether they were from the war-ravaged country.

Mr Kariuki identified the suspects as Ms Fatuma Mohamed, Mr Khalid Harith and Mr Athman Omar Bapae.

"They said they were from the historical town of Lamu where they have been attending celebrations to mark the birth of Prophet Mohamed, commonly known as Maulid," said the police boss.

Mr Kariuki said the suspects were held at the Malindi Police Station for interrogation but were later transferred to Mombasa for further interrogation.

Source: Daily Nation

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