UK won’t intervene in trial of Kenyan

Britain has refused to intervene in the case of a Kenyan man who says he faces a terrorism trial because he did not help US and UK security services.

Mr Omar Awadh Omar, also known as Abu Sahal, says he was illegally taken from Kenya to Uganda for interrogation by Western officials.

Mr Omar has since been accused of involvement in the terror attack that killed more than 70 people in Kampala last July.

But the High Court in London said Mr Omar’s trial was not a matter the British courts could intervene in.

Mr Omar’s lawyers had wanted the High Court to force the British government to reveal details of alleged interrogations last year. They say the interrogations prove their client was not involved in the attacks.

Mr Omar is believed to have been the second-in-command of the East Africa al-Qaeda terrorist cell during the attacks.

Mr Omar said he was seized in Nairobi in September last year and driven to the Ugandan border. He says he was then handed over to security forces and taken to the headquarters of the Ugandan Rapid Response Unit near Kampala.

In his witness statement to the British courts, the suspect says he was questioned at least 20 times, mostly by British and US security service officers who hit him and stamped on his feet.

If true, these incidents occurred after the UK government published rules designed to prevent security service personnel from torturing suspects.

Mr Ben Jaffey, for Mr Omar, told the High Court the Western intelligence officers had offered him a deal to become an informant.

He claimed that they questioned him about various British suspects in East Africa and asked him to become an agent.

“His trial is his punishment for failing to co-operate,” said Mr Jaffey.

Alleged interrogation

But James Eadie QC, for the British government, said Mr Omar’s trial had nothing to do with his alleged interrogation because the suspect said he had made no admissions relating to the Kampala attacks.

“There is thus no connection whatsoever, even on his own case, between any ill-treatment and any issued in the criminal proceedings,” he said.

Ruling against Mr Omar, Justice Collins said his case was “unarguable” and that his claim of being unlawfully arrested and detained could be taken up against both the Kenyan and Ugandan authorities.