City mosque official on terror charge

An official of a Nairobi mosque has been charged with being a member of the Al-Shabaab terror group.

And prosecutor Senior Superintendent Onesmus Towett urged chief magistrate Esther Maina not to grant Mr Abdallah Mwasiku Kilume, 48, of Riyadh Mosque in Pumwani, bail as “his children are members of terror groups in Somalia and Afghanistan.”

“He was found with devices for detonating explosives in the CBD,” Mr Towett said.

Is in Afghanistan

The prosecutor said the Anti-Terrorism Police Unit (ATPU) was pursuing leads to establish the suspect’s connections with other organised groups.

The officer said investigations had “established that a daughter and a son-in-law of the suspect are members of Al-Shabaab in Somalia.”
The magistrate heard that another son of the suspect is in Afghanistan.

“The suspect was arrested with devices for detonating explosives on Kimathi Street in Nairobi,” the court heard.

Mr Kilume has denied the charge. The case will be heard on August 29, 2012.