25th November, 2010
Kenya’s authorities have arrested seven young men, including a Nigerian with a British passport, on suspicion of attempting to reach Somalia and join an al-Qaeda-linked group there,
local media reported Tuesday.
The Daily Nation, quoting a coastal police official, said the six Kenyans and the Nigerian were arrested on the small island of Lamu as they boarded a speedboat with the intention of reaching nearby Somalia.
The men were in possession of materials promoting jihad and allegedly admitted they had been radicalized by an imam at a mosque in the coastal town of Mombasa.
Insurgent group al-Shabaab is fighting to oust the Western-backed government in Somalia. Hundreds of foreign fighters are believed to back the group, which carried out a suicide bomb attack in Uganda in July.
Kenya has a significant Muslim population, as well as a large Somali diaspora.
Copyright protected by Digiprove © 2010 P.M.News