Kenya links Al Shabaab to Friday chaos

NAIROBI, Kenya, Jan 16 – The Kenyan government now says members of Somalia’s militant Al-Shabaab group were involved in Friday afternoon’s protest, that left at least five people dead.

Internal Security Minister George Saitoti said there were people waving placards belonging to the group and they may have taken advantage of the situation to cause mayhem.

He said that an inquiry will be set up “to thoroughly investigate the violence and stern action taken against those involved.”

He added: “We know that there are elements sympathetic to the Al-Shabaab and there may be some of them around here. We were watching very carefully since we knew that they wanted to create problems.”

“They wanted to create problems but our own people were on the alert and did the best they could. Those elements had planned much bigger mayhem than what you saw yesterday,” Prof Saitoti pointed out.

On Tuesday, January 12, the chairman of the Muslim For Human Rights (MUHURI) lobby applied for a permit at the Central Police Station to hold a demonstration against the government’s decision to deport Jamaican Muslim cleric Sheikh Abdullah Al-Faisal.

Prof Saitoti said that Intelligence information received had indicated that the demonstration would be infiltrated by people sympathetic to the Al-Shabaab, forcing the police to outlaw it.

He termed it unfortunate that the advice was not heeded and said that this led to the degeneration of the whole situation.

Among those who were killed were two victims who were taken to a clinic near the Jamia Mosque while three others died on the way to hospital.

Four other people who were stabbed during the demonstration were taken to hospital by motorists passing through the riot zone. Police confirmed they had arrested several suspects but declined to comment about the casualties.

As the riot degenerated, police appeared to withdraw after they seemed overpowered forcing angry members of the public to stone the demonstrators.

Several vehicles parked on Banda Street and other streets near Jamia Mosque were extensively damaged.

On Saturday, Prof Saitoti held a meeting with Muslim leaders where it was agreed that Al-Faisal should be deported as soon as possible from Kenya.

“The man must leave this country as soon as possible. It is a matter of great insult that a foreigner would come to this country and be the source of terrible misunderstanding among Kenyans and lead to destruction of property and injury of people,” he stated.

“Sheikh Al-Faisal entered the country on a tourist visa but attracted the attention of government officials when he started preaching inciteful messages.”

He described the cleric as an undesirable element after being jailed in the United Kingdom for five years for preaching racial hatred and religious intolerance.

“After serving a five year sentence up to 2007, he was subsequently deported to Jamaica. The preacher is on an international watch list of prohibited persons,”

Prof Saitoti pointed out that Al-Faisal has even been banned from preaching in his own country of origin.

Source:capitalfm.co.ke/

Kenya seeks stronger trade ties with UAE

Dubai : The UAE is now Kenya's largest trading partner and the Nairobi government is actively and aggressively pursuing investment partners in its growing economy.

To further strengthen trade and tourism ties between the two nations, a high-level Kenyan delegation is currently visiting Dubai, a trip which also coincides with the first ever Kenya Week celebrations in the UAE.

Yesterday, Kenya's tourism minister, Najeeb Balala, held a press conference highlighting the setting up of an Arabic language portal for visitors to Kenya, and also announced the official opening of a representative tourism office to be operated for Kenya's Tourism Board.

In the first 10 months of this year, 9,317 visitors from the UAE visited Kenya, up from 7,688 in 2006, and 8,147 in all of 2007. Better exposure, improved airline links and a growing investment in Kenya helped spur the growth.

Balala said the investment in the tourism sector in Kenya would be largely exempt from VAT and levies imposed in other sectors, helping to spur growth investment by UAE companies. He said the taxes and levies would remain in place for all other sectors and goods.

Transferring funds

Asked about the mPesa system of transferring funds via cell phones — a method highly popular with Kenyan expatriates in the UK where the system is only available — Balala said that the private-sector system was very successful.

"Obviously it is a private sector initiative but it is one which we are very eager to see extended to all parts of the world," he said. Such a move would help Kenyan expatriates in the UAE with remittances to their native land.

The Kenyan delegation will be meeting with its expatriate community to gauge how best build on the strong ties between Nairobi and the UAE.

Balala stressed that his government had invested heavily in the roads and transport sector to improve Kenya's highway network, build and improve roads between major cities and tourist destinations. And as a matter of priority, the government is instituting a new rating system for hotels, encouraging the refurbishment of facilities and working to improve hygiene in the nation.

He said his government has no plans to introduce restrictions on foreign ownership of property in Kenya, acknowledging that overseas owners had helped increase the cost of housing.

The tourism minister said Nairobi is committed to improving ties and tourism opportunities between the two countries, and he said Kenya would be actively participating in the global village expo in Dubai.

Kenya Week activities wrap up tomorrow.

Source:gulfnews.com/