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UK cops lend a hand in Kenya
30/06/2003 17:31 - (SA)
Mombasa - Anti-terrorist security experts from Britain have arrived in Mombasa to help track down terrorist elements, as part of Kenya-Britain cooperation on security matters.
British High Commissioner (ambassador) to Kenya Edward Clay said Monday that the officers will also train a reconstituted local anti-terrorist police unit to be based in the Inidan Ocean port city.
"Kenya and Britain are in joint efforts to combat global terrorism," Clay said after a meeting with Coast Provincial Commissioner Cyrus Maina.
"Scotland Yard sleuths will offer their expertise to their Kenyan security counterparts because the Kenya coast has been identified as pivotal in the war against terrorism in the region," Clay added.
Kenya has experienced two separate fatal terrorist attacks in August 1998 when the US embassy in Nairobi was car-bombed, killing 213 people, and again last November, when terrorists bobed an Israeli-owned tourist establishment in Mombasa, killing 18 people.
Britain lifted a month-long travel ban and advisory against Kenya last week that was blamed for severely damaging the country's key tourism industry.
Kenya has been under pressure to rein in extremists, but an ongoing nationwide crackdown on aliens and suspected terrorists has been strongly criticised by Muslim groups as biased against them.
An anti-terrorism bill is due in parliament, but most members of parliament have spoken against it, saying it was discriminative against Muslims.
"We shall benefit from Scotland Yard expertise to make sure that our coast is the safest in the region and make tourists feel safe and free to visit," Maina said after the meeting with Clay.
Apart from the British, Germany has permanently stationed military personnel who conduct reconnaissance missions along the Indian Ocean coast, including Somalia. - Sapa-AFP
- SAPA
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