Police seize Jamaican Muslim cleric

Anti Terrorism Police Unit detectives arrested and detained visiting Jamaican Muslim cleric Sheikh Abdullah Al-Faisal in Mombasa on new year’s eve.

The Muslim scholar, who had just attended evening prayers, was scheduled to be deported from the country on Friday, despite protests from the Muslim Human Rights Forum and other Muslim leaders.

He is charged with allegedly breaching unspecified immigration regulations. Sheikh Al-Faisal, who arrived in Mombasa on Saturday, was arrested as he left a Nyali estate mosque where he had attended evening prayers.

According to the detectives, Sheikh Al-Faisal’s visitor’s visa does not allow him to preach in mosques. Although there was a stand-off between his hosts and the detectives, the police officers whisked Sheikh Al-Faisal to their office at the Coast Provincial Police Headquarters.

Coast PPO Leo Nyongesa could neither confirm nor deny the arrest while the ATPU boss Nicholas Kamwende could not be reached for comment. The cleric was in the country on the invitation of Muslims in Nairobi and Mombasa and had been scheduled to visit various mosques.

The Muslim Human Rights Forum accused police of discriminating against Muslims, arguing that preachers from other faiths are usually granted similar visas and are never restrained from preaching or conducting other religious activities.