NAIROBI, October 4 – Government spokesman Dr Alfred Mutua has emphatically denied that Kenyan suspects held in Ethiopia since 2006 were part of a secret rendition programme.
The spokesman told Capital News in a telephone interview that those arrested were indeed suspected of terrorist activities.
Below is a statement he posted on his website to clarify the matter.
RETURN OF KENYAN NATIONALS FROM ETHIOPIA
After a thorough verification exercise designed to positively establish the identity of suspects held in Ethiopia, the Government has finalized plans for the return of eight (8) held in Ethiopia, who have since been confirmed to be Kenyans. It is however necessary to understand the circumstances under which these individuals were arrested and taken to Ethiopia.
In the period December 2006 to January 2007, Ethiopia military troops supporting the Transitional Federal Government of Somalia started a military operation against the Islamic Courts Union supported by international terrorists in Southern Somalia.
With the defeat of the Islamic Courts Union forces and their terrorist allies, a large influx of foreign nationals attempted to enter Kenya at a time when the Government had closed the border between Kenya and Somalia
The Kenya Police screened those who entered Kenya grouped them into the following three categories:
CATEGORY ONE
This first category comprised of 70 foreign nationals who were screened and deported to their countries. They included Eritreans, French, Omani, Moroccans, Jordanians, Syrians, Yemenis, Ethiopians, Canadians, Swedish, Americans, Rwandese, Britons, Ugandan, Saudi’s, Tunisian and Tanzanians as follows:
1. Halima Badrudine Fazul Hussein – Comoro
2. Asyia Fazul Abdullah Mohamed – Comoro
3. Lougman Fazul Abdullah Mohamed – Comoro
4. Sumaiya Fazul Abdullah Mohamed – Comoro
5. Ishmael muslih Said – Yemen
6. Ibrahim Mohaned al Mukri – Yemen
7. Khalid Ali hamdi – Yemen
8. Marian Ali Mohamed – Yemen
9. Ayub abdirazak Mushar – France
10. yusuf Ali Haitali – Morocco
11. Usama Mohamed Alfayumi – Jordan
12. Assad Basam Sansal – Syria
13. Mohamed Odin Masatat – Syria
14. Lens Cine – Tunisia
15. Adnan Nazan – Tunisia
16. Daniel Joseph Maldonado – USA
17. Razar Afsharzur Aldegan – USA
18. Amir Mohamed Mushar – USA
19. Mohamed Ezzouek – British
20. Shah Jehan Janjua – British
21. Amzar Chentouf – British
22. Bashir Mohamed Muktar – Canada
23. Al-Musaam Ahmed Musalaam – Oman
24. Kashoob Hassan Salim – Oman
25. Ahmed Musalam Said – Oman
26. Hassan Salim Hamkuk – Oman
27. Safia Benauda – Sweden
28. Abdullahi Mohamed Ahmed – Somalia
29. Aden Sheikh Abdullahi – Somalia
30. Abdugani Ahmed Mohamed – Somalia
31. Mohamed Bare Bulle – Somalia
32. Abdifatah Aden Hussein – Somalia
33. Mohamed Aden Jelle – Somalia
34. Bubakar Omar Adem – Somalia
35. Omar Abubakar Omar – Somalia
36. Abdi Abdullahi alias Abdirahman Osman – Somalia
37. Ali Afi Elmi – Somalia
38. Muhammed Abdulkadir Hussein – Somalia
39. Abubakar Hussein Ahmed – Somalia
40. Nur Mohammed Salat – Somalia
41. Saidi Sheikh Abdullahi – Somali)
42. Bashir Mohammed Chirakdin – Somalia
43. Abdullahi Ahmed Noor – Somalia
44. Osman Abdi Hassan – Somalia
45. Mohammed Hassan Ahmed – Somalia
46. Saqawi Abdi Wahab – Somalia
47. Khamis Khalil Jaraqo – Somalia
48. Sakata Takale Bakare – Somalia
49. Sheikh Sharif Hassan Ahmed – Somalia
50. Tesfaldet Kidane Tesfazghi – Eirtrea
51. Osman Mohamed Berhan – Eritrea
52. Saleh Edriss Salmgama – Eritrea
53. Abdihakim Hajir Abdi – Eritrea
54. Saidi Shifa Mohamed – Ethiopia
55. Jamal Abdala Chalo – Ethiopia
56. Ahmed Hassan Aden – Ethiopia
57. Hussein Ali Saidi – Ethiopia
58. Tafa Dagsisa Aga – Ethiopia
59. Lama Taka Lagase – Ethiopia
60. Badada Lami Dabada – Ethiopia
61. Murgeta Tassisa Eba – Ethiopia
62. Noor Gurare – Ethiopia
63. Sharif Jamal Aliye – Ethiopia
64. Tsuma Solomon Ayela – Ethiopia
65. Halina Semeneh – Ethiopia
66. Kamilyn Mohammed Tuweni – Tanzania
67. Fatuma Hamed Chande – Tanzania
68. Mohamed Abshir Salim – Tanzania
69. Ibrahim Musa alias Michael Wechuli Ojiambo Uganda
70. Muhibitabo Clement Ibrahim – Rwanda
CATEGORY TWO
The second category comprised of sixteen (16) Kenyans who were inadvertently caught up in the war while engaged in private business in Somalia, mostly around Dobley town. They were not engaged in any illegal activities. After Police interrogation, they were all assisted to proceed to their homes in North Eastern, Nairobi and Coast Provinces. They included the following:
1. Abdihakim Hajir Abdi. – Garrisa
2. Abdi Abdullahi Alias Star – Mombasa
3. Noor Sheikh Mohamed – Garrisa
4. Mohamed Saidi Mahamed – Mandera
5. Mohamed Korane Mohamud – Garrissa
6. Hassan Aden Mohamed – Garrissa
7. Hassan Aden Jibril – Wajir
8. Hajir Muhamed Mohamud – Garrissa
9. Salimin Mohammad Khamis – Lamu
10. Fatuma Ahmed Abdulrahman – Lamu
11. Halima Hashim Abdirahman – Nairobi
12. Aboud Mohamed Seif Rogo – Mombasa
13. Said Hamisi Mohammed alias ‘Star’ – Mombasa
14. Abdikafar Mohammed Ali – Manderla
15. Millie Muthoni Gakuo – Nairobi
16. Abdullahi Mohamud Mohamed – Mandera
CATEGORY THREE
The third category included eight (8) Kenyans who were arrested in Kiunga attempting to enter the country from southern Somalia. On interrogation, the denied being Kenyans for fear of prosecution and claimed to be Somali nationals. It is on this basis that he was repatriated to Somalia.
All of them were found to have very close links with international terrorist in Southern Somalia that include Harun Fazul and Swaleh Nabhan.
In order to ascertain their nationalities with finality, the Government dispatched a verification team to Ethiopia comprising of Immigration and security officers to interview this group a second time.
The eight (8) individuals confirmed that they were indeed Kenyans and not Somali nationals as they had earlier claimed. It is now confirmed that the following eight persons are the ONLY Kenyans found in Ethiopian custody:
1. Swaleh Ali Tunzi
2. Bashir Hussein Mohammed Sader aka Chirag
3. Kassim Musa Mwarusi
4. Ali Musa Mwarusi
5. Abdalla Khalifan Tondwe
6. Hassan Shaban Mwasume
7. Said Hamisi Mohamed Aka Star
8. Salim Awadh Salim
9. Abdulrashid Mohamed
Having verified their status, the Government made arrangements with the Ethiopian authorities for their return to Kenya.
LINKS WITH INTERNATIONAL TERRORISM
Investigations have revealed that these Kenyans had traveled to Somalia in 2006 to get militia training and were recruited into terrorist cells by international terrorists operating in Southern Somalia. Indeed, most of them met and worked with such notorious international terrorists as Haroun Fazul and Saleh Nabhan, the leaders of the Al-Qaeda cell in East Africa.
Haroun Fazul and Saleh Nabham are both international terrorist wanted for the 1997 terrorist bombing of the US embassies in Nairobi and Dar-Salaam and Kikambala Hotel in Mombassa. In both incidents over 250 Kenyans died and several more were seriously injured.
Since none of these individuals offers any plausible reason for taking part in terrorist training in Somalia or indeed for their links with international terrorists, the Government will determine the appropriate action against them.
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