Anti-terror police in Kenya have accused the British of ignoring their warnings that Woolwich murder suspect Michael Adebolajo was a dangerous radical.
Adebolajo was arrested in Kenya in 2010 on suspicion of leading a jihadist plot to cross the border into lawless Somalia and join the ranks of the Al Shabaab terrorist group.
But the Kenyans claim that when they presented their evidence to the British Embassy, it was insisted Adebolajo had no criminal record.
Sources in Kenya also claim the
British Embassy put them under pressure to release Adebolajo after he
complained he had been tortured, starved for two days and denied access
to a lawyer.
And another Kenyan source yesterday claimed the British failed to help them build a case against Adebolajo.
Adebolajo was detained for several days before being deported to the UK.
It came as Adebolajo’s family claimed harassment by MI5 in the months before the attack may have ‘pushed him over the edge’.
On his return to the UK from Kenya, family members claim he was ‘pestered’ by MI5 agents who tried to recruit him as an informant and infiltrate Islamic extremist groups.
Adebolajo’s brother-in-law Abu Zuybyr claimed the intelligence services put Adebolajo under pressure to spy on Muslim clerics and become an informer.
Mr Zuybyr, who is married to Adebolajo’s sister Christiana, said: ‘That is what [Adebolajo’s] family is saying: that the secret service pushed him over the edge.’
He said Adebolajo was ‘elated’ following the birth of his child, but ‘then things became a little strange’.
Speaking to The Independent on Sunday, Mr Zuybyr said Adebolajo went to Nairobi in 2010 to study Arabic and Islam.
Following his return to England, Mr Zuybyr said authorities repeatedly questioned family members about Adebolajo.
His elder brother, Jeremiah, who had gone to Saudi Arabia to teach English, was arrested and quizzed. And Mr Zuybyr said he was questioned at gunpoint when he visited Yemen four years ago to learn Arabic with his wife.
He said: ‘When I came back to Britain, MI5 contacted me and showed significant interest in Michael. I was harassed for a while, with constant calls from people claiming to be from the FBI.’
In Kenya, Adebolajo was seized with five others after travelling by speedboat to an island off the coast near Lamu Island, 68 miles from the Somali border.
A married couple who owned a guest house where they had been staying and a worker were also arrested.
The Kenyans believed Adebolajo, 28, had played a crucial role in recruiting his co-accused, including two secondary school-aged boys, after they were radicalised during weekly visits to a mosque in Mombasa.
It is believed the Kenyan cleric Sheikh Aboud Rogo – who was killed by gunmen in Mombasa last year – had helped to fund the men.
Adebolajo was eventually deported without charge but the Kenyans insist they warned the British that he was dangerous.
Mombasa’s anti-terrorist police chief Elijah Rop said: ‘We advised the British police about the man but they ignored us.
‘That is the man we deported to the UK in 2010 after discovering he is among Islamic radicals who were recruited to train as Al Shabaab in Somalia three years ago.
At the time of Adebolajo’s arrest, the security services were aware of the risk that radicalised British Muslims were heading to Somalia to join with Al Shabaab, which has links to Al Qaeda.
Only two months before, the then-head of MI5 Jonathan Evans had warned Britons were training in Somalia and it was ‘only a matter of time before we see terrorism on our streets inspired by those who are today fighting alongside Al Shabaab’.
It is now accepted that Al Qaeda cells in Mombasa were at their peak around 2010.
Samantha Lewthwaite, the fugitive ‘white widow’ of 7/7 bomber Germaine Lindsay is still on the run over her role in a suspected plot to bomb western hotels in the city.
However the security forces appear to have been relaxed that Adebolajo – who was travelling under the name of Michael Olemindis Ndemolajo – may have been prepared to train and fight with the brutal Al Shabaab.
Kenyan government spokesman Muthui Kariuki said: ‘We handed him to British security agents in Kenya and he seems to have found his way to London and mutated to Michael Adebolajo. The Kenyan government cannot be held responsible for what happened to him after we handed him to British authorities.’
-Dailymail
Adebolajo was detained for several days before being deported to the UK.
It came as Adebolajo’s family claimed harassment by MI5 in the months before the attack may have ‘pushed him over the edge’.
On his return to the UK from Kenya, family members claim he was ‘pestered’ by MI5 agents who tried to recruit him as an informant and infiltrate Islamic extremist groups.
Adebolajo’s brother-in-law Abu Zuybyr claimed the intelligence services put Adebolajo under pressure to spy on Muslim clerics and become an informer.
Mr Zuybyr, who is married to Adebolajo’s sister Christiana, said: ‘That is what [Adebolajo’s] family is saying: that the secret service pushed him over the edge.’
He said Adebolajo was ‘elated’ following the birth of his child, but ‘then things became a little strange’.
Speaking to The Independent on Sunday, Mr Zuybyr said Adebolajo went to Nairobi in 2010 to study Arabic and Islam.
Following his return to England, Mr Zuybyr said authorities repeatedly questioned family members about Adebolajo.
His elder brother, Jeremiah, who had gone to Saudi Arabia to teach English, was arrested and quizzed. And Mr Zuybyr said he was questioned at gunpoint when he visited Yemen four years ago to learn Arabic with his wife.
He said: ‘When I came back to Britain, MI5 contacted me and showed significant interest in Michael. I was harassed for a while, with constant calls from people claiming to be from the FBI.’
In Kenya, Adebolajo was seized with five others after travelling by speedboat to an island off the coast near Lamu Island, 68 miles from the Somali border.
A married couple who owned a guest house where they had been staying and a worker were also arrested.
The Kenyans believed Adebolajo, 28, had played a crucial role in recruiting his co-accused, including two secondary school-aged boys, after they were radicalised during weekly visits to a mosque in Mombasa.
It is believed the Kenyan cleric Sheikh Aboud Rogo – who was killed by gunmen in Mombasa last year – had helped to fund the men.
Adebolajo was eventually deported without charge but the Kenyans insist they warned the British that he was dangerous.
Mombasa’s anti-terrorist police chief Elijah Rop said: ‘We advised the British police about the man but they ignored us.
‘That is the man we deported to the UK in 2010 after discovering he is among Islamic radicals who were recruited to train as Al Shabaab in Somalia three years ago.
At the time of Adebolajo’s arrest, the security services were aware of the risk that radicalised British Muslims were heading to Somalia to join with Al Shabaab, which has links to Al Qaeda.
Only two months before, the then-head of MI5 Jonathan Evans had warned Britons were training in Somalia and it was ‘only a matter of time before we see terrorism on our streets inspired by those who are today fighting alongside Al Shabaab’.
It is now accepted that Al Qaeda cells in Mombasa were at their peak around 2010.
Samantha Lewthwaite, the fugitive ‘white widow’ of 7/7 bomber Germaine Lindsay is still on the run over her role in a suspected plot to bomb western hotels in the city.
However the security forces appear to have been relaxed that Adebolajo – who was travelling under the name of Michael Olemindis Ndemolajo – may have been prepared to train and fight with the brutal Al Shabaab.
Kenyan government spokesman Muthui Kariuki said: ‘We handed him to British security agents in Kenya and he seems to have found his way to London and mutated to Michael Adebolajo. The Kenyan government cannot be held responsible for what happened to him after we handed him to British authorities.’
-Dailymail
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