American in custody over militia claims

Anti-terror police are holding an American who was seized at Liboi, on the Kenya-Somalia border at the weekend.

The officers from the anti-terrorism police unit suspect that the man has links to the al Shabaab militia group, which is linked to the al Qaeda terror network.

Lawless Somalia is viewed by the international community as a breeding ground for al Qaeda-linked groups which have been carrying out an insurgency against the UN-backed administration of President Sheikh Shariff Ahmed.

A witness told Reuters that the man was arrested on Sunday by police manning the immigration office at the border town of Liboi in Kenya’s North Eastern Province. He was on his way to Qoqani in southern Somalia without any security escort.

Police thought the man’s willingness to enter the conflict-torn nation where foreigners are routinely kidnapped for huge ransoms was puzzling, the witness added.

The area he was headed to is controlled by the al Shabaab rebel group, which the United States says is al Qaeda’s proxy in Somalia.

Western nations are increasingly concerned about the radicalisation of Somali youth living within their countries. Some have returned to Somalia to boost the insurgents’ ranks.

Foreign Affairs minister Moses Wetang’ula has cautioned Kenyans against joining foreign armies.

Recruiting

The warning comes amid reports that the Somali Transitional Government was recruiting youths in parts of Kenya to join the war against Islamists seeking to oust it.

“If any Kenyan masquerades as a Somali and is recruited in any army, they are committing an offence. And if we find non-Kenyans recruiting Kenyans, that is an act of aggression,” Mr Wetang’ula said at a luncheon for new ambassadors in Nairobi.

Asked if he was aware of recruitment of youths by American NGOs to fight in Afghanistan, the minister said he was not.

“Kenya is not aware of any mercenary force,” he said.