Kenya arrests suspect terrorist
2003-06-29 17:49
Garissa - Kenyan anti-terror police have arrested a Pakistani national of Kenyan-Arab descent on suspicion that he is linked to a Somalia-based Islamic militant group, police said on Sunday.
Naveed Anwar Mohamed was arrested early on Saturday from the Young Muslim Association - an Islamic school - in the North Eastern provincial capital Garissa, senior police officer Boniface Mwaniki said.
Mwaniki said Mohamed is suspected of having links with al-Itihad al-Islam militant group based in Somalia, which the United States has often accused of links to Osama bin Laden's al-Qaeda network.
Mohamed's capture followed the recent deployment of a Kenyan anti-terror squad in North Eastern region, which borders Somalia, and is led by Mwaniki, an US-trained anti-terrorist investigator.
North Eastern deputy provincial police chief Daniel Serem confirmed the arrest and said that the man was transferred to Nairobi on Saturday for further interrogation.
"Although Mohamed was born in Kenya, he held a Pakistani passport and had also undergone military training in Pakistan," Serem said.
Police officials in Nairobi could not be reached immediately to confirm the presence of Mohamed in the Kenyan capital.