'White Widow' murder claim remains puzzle

Kenya: The alleged death of international terrorist Samantha Lewthwaite would be the final chapter in the life of a woman whose story is cloaked in generous amounts of myths and facts.

By yesterday, her reported killing in Ukraine two weeks ago by a Russian volunteer sniper could not be verified, and most of the top international news channels including CNN, BBC and

Al Jazeera steered clear of the story. If the story turns out to be factual, it would be a diplomatic and political nightmare for the US, Britain and other Nato countries who support Ukraine in its war against Russian separatists, because, according to Russia, Ms Lewthwaite, an Al-Qaeda and Islamic State terrorist with a price on her head, was killed fighting alongside Ukrainian volunteers.

By yesterday, the propaganda war over her alleged death appeared to be in top gear, with the pro-Russian Regnum agency that broke the story claiming Ukraine had placed a Sh90 million price on the head of the Russian sniper who killed her.

"The Russian sniper who killed the British terrorist now has a price of nearly one million dollars on his head from Ukrainian special services," claimed the agency.

Dubbed the "White Widow", the Northern Ireland-born Lewthwaite is linked to several terror attacks in Kenya, including the September 21 Westgate Mall massacre last year. Initially, Lewthwaite was thought to have joined the jihadist group Islamic State accused of terrible massacres and other war crimes in Syria and Iraq.

"One of the world's most wanted terrorists, Samantha Lewthwaite, who fought as part of a Ukrainian battalion, has been killed by a volunteer sniper," Moscow-based Regnum reported. Several British news agencies also carried the story, but Samantha's father was quoted saying he knew nothing of her alleged death.

UK's anti-terror police were by late yesterday investigating the claims of the "White widow's" death. In Kenya, she is thought to be the head of a terror cell that could be responsible for the killing of moderate Muslim preachers at the Coast.

Apart from the Westgate attack in which an estimated 67 people were killed, Lewthwaite is also feared to have masterminded several other attacks on churches and restaurants targeting non-Muslims. The police said it could not confirm the accuracy of the claim, only referring the query to the Foreign Affairs ministry.

"We have received information about Lewthwaite's death, but we do not have the capacity to verify any of part of it," police spokesperson Zipporah Mboroki told The Standard.

It is still unclear whether Lewthwaite was actually recruited as a fighter in Ukraine, which is fighting a war with Russian-speaking militants in Ukraine's Crimea region. Interpol, the global police organisation to which Kenya is a member, was also yet to share any findings with local counterparts.

Fake identity

Lewthwaite is still on Interpol's arrest warrant called a Red Notice issued only for the most dangerous fugitives. The Briton, who is the world's most wanted female suspect, has several times escaped arrest within Kenya where she is accused of planning and masterminding several terror attacks.

Her last known home address in Kenya was less than 100m from a mall in one of Nairobi's upmarket suburbs, before various reports linked her to the training of militants in Somalia, Iraq, Syria and now Ukraine.

Investigating officers drawn from international agencies earlier said there was reason to believe the shopping mall would have been a target for a terrorist attack similar to Westgate.

Unsuspecting neighbours in the apartment where Lewthwaite lived said she moved out only days before detectives arrived, to ensure she stayed ahead in the chase.

In Kenya, she is specifically wanted for being in possession of explosives and in a conspiracy to commit a felony. Police recovered bomb-making material in an early 2012 raid in her rented house in Mombasa.

She had rented the homes using a fake identity of Natalie Webb, with a forged South African passport, but had already fled rather mysteriously by the time the police struck.