Norwegian in anti-terror unit custody

By Cyrus Ombati

Police in Kenya are holding a Norwegian national of Somali origin found in Mandera Town at the Kenya-Somalia border, following an anti-terrorism crackdown.

The Norwegian embassy in Nairobi has confirmed Mr Isaack Yahya, 30 is their citizen and that he had come to Kenya almost a month ago for unclear reasons.

Police sources say Yahya is being interrogated by Anti-Terrorism Police in Nairobi after he was flown aboard a Kenya police chopper from Mandera on Sunday.

He had been to Somalia but it is not clear how he found his way to Mandera Town. He was arrested hours after a blast went off and injured two police officers who were patrolling the town on Saturday morning.

“His visa is supposed to expire on Monday June 25, 2012 but we do not know what he went to do in Somalia and how he came to Mandera. We suspect he had a sinister mission,” said a senior officer who asked not to be named.

Yahya rode in the same police chopper that the injured officers were also flown in to Nairobi for further treatment. At Wilson Airport, police covered his face using a sheet as he was being taken to a waiting car.

Security agents are under pressure to arrest tens of foreign fighters who come to join Somalia’s Al-Shabaab militants. Al-Shabaab has hundreds of foreign fighters in its ranks.

The US embassy in Kenya on Saturday warned it had received information of an imminent threat of a terrorist attack in Mombasa.

The embassy said all US government employees were barred from travelling to Mombasa for the next week. The French embassy in Nairobi also warned its citizens to be “extremely vigilant” in Mombasa and the surrounding area.

On Sunday, a blast went off in a bar in the outskirts of Mombasa killing three people and injured 30 others. Several other patrons in the bar were injured by gunshots fired by the attackers. Police say they are holding a suspect over the incident.