KENYA: Security forces arrest five men suspected to be members of Somalia's al Qaeda-linked al Shabaab insurgents in the coastal town of Lamu,as the town started celebrating a cultural festival popular with tourists

Record ID: 362156

  • Title: KENYA: Security forces arrest five men suspected to be members of Somalia's al Qaeda-linked al Shabaab insurgents in the coastal town of Lamu,as the town started celebrating a cultural festival popular with tourists
  • Date: 26th November 2011
  • Summary: CHILDREN SWIMMING IN THE WATER
  • Embargoed: 11th December 2011 12:00
  • Keywords:
  • Location: Kenya, Kenya
  • Country: Kenya
  • Reuters ID: LVA31XZ4DBAXIBZ8AY2AAVI6DP3T
  • Story Text: Kenyan security forces arrested on Friday (November 25) five men suspected to be members of Somalia's al Qaeda-linked al Shabaab insurgents in the coastal town of Lamu.
    The arrest comes after two kidnapping incidents in September and October, and after Kenya sent its military into Somalia to hunt members of the group, whom it says were repsonsible for the seizures.
    "We received a report from a member of the public that there is a boat that has been left near Tikwi and the occupants about five of them have left on foot towards Bruno hotel. So I informmed my men and they followed them and fortunately they arrested the five men near the hotel. We suspect these people are from Somalia maybe they are al-Shabaab escaping what is going on there so we are still interrogating them to know their mission," said Joseph Sigei, the Lamu deputy police commander.
    The town is preparing to celebrate an annual festival dubbed "the Lamu Cultural Festival" that promotes the regions coastal culture and is very popular with both locals and tourists.
    Due to recent attacks and kidnappings police have beefed up security with armed officers patrolling the whole town.
    "The reality is that involved our insecurity, and it is because the security was not there. The presence of the officers with guns is an assurance that there is security, so whoever is around will be safe moving up and down. I would like to urge the people, just reasuring them that we are prepared for the festival and set for all the guests, we want to receive everybody and promise you that it will be an event worth to remember," said Stephen Ikua, the Lamu District Commissioner.
    In early October, gunmen stormed the private home of 66-year-old, wheelchair-bound Marie Dedieu on the northern coast island of Manda Bay. They grabbed and carried her to a waiting boat that crossed into Somalia, where al Shabaab were in control of large swathes of the south and centre.
    The French government said she died later in the month while in the kidnappers' custody in unexplained circumstances.
    Mohammed Shali, a local performer said they were glad for the increased security as a decrease in tourism or the collapse of the annual event would see an end to their livelihoods.
    "Because of what has happened there has to be security, there must be security all over the country, not just Lamu, Mombasa, Nairobi, Kenya, Kisumu - everywhere. I would like there to be enough security all around," said Shali, a drummer.
    A month earlier, unidentified gunmen raided the remote Kiwayu Safari Village, shooting dead publishing executive David Tebbutt, 58, and taking hostage his wife Judith, 56, before escaping by boat.
    Sylvia Ponte, an Italian tourists who has come to attend the festival said she felt quite secure.
    "I knew very well the French lady, she was a friend of mine but as of now it seems pretty safe in Lamu," said Ponte as she watched a performance in the city.
    Analysts and diplomats in the region had warned that Somali pirates were likely to turn to softer targets, such as tourists in Kenya, in response to more robust defence of merchant vessels by private security guards.
    Police have since arrested two suspects in the murder of David Tebbutt and the kidnapping of his wife Judith.
    Kenya's government had been under intense pressure at home to show it is beefing up defences along its porous frontier with lawless Somalia in the wake of the attacks.
    It has since sent troops into Somalia to pursue the al Qaeda-linked al Shabaab rebels it blames for a wave kidnappings and cross-border raids.
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