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Kenya Deports Muslim Cleric to Gambia
By JACK HEALY, January 7, 2010
A Jamaican-born Muslim cleric arrested in Kenya whose online sermons drew the attention of a Nigerian man accused of trying to bring down American airliner was deported on Thursday to Gambia, where he was expected to stay briefly before returning to Jamaica, according to news reports.
The authorities in Kenya, where the cleric, Abdullah el-Faisal, was arrested on Sunday as he traveled through the country on a preaching tour, were quoted by news agencies as saying the clerics history of radical statements and his previous connections with convicted terrorists had made him a serious threat to Kenyas security.
It is in the publics interest not to have him here, the countrys immigration minister, Otieno Kajwang, told The Associated Press.
Mr. Faisal served as the imam of a London mosque that had been attended by the so-called shoe bomber Richard Reid as well as Zacarias Moussaoui, the only person convicted in a United States court on charges stemming from the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks.
In 2003, Mr. Faisal was convicted in Britain on charges of inciting racial hatred in speeches that urged his followers to kill Hindus, Christians, Jews and Americans, and he was accused of influencing one of the bombers who struck the London transit system in July 2005. Britain deported him to Jamaica in May 2007, part of the way through his seven-year prison sentence.
Although Mr. Faisal was not charged with any crime in Kenya, the authorities there acted swiftly to remove him, and said he should not have been allowed to enter the country.
According to news reports from the Kenyan capital of Nairobi, Mr. Faisal was not stopped as he crossed into Kenya from Tanzania because computers at the border crossing had been temporarily disconnected from a database that allows immigration officials to run background checks.
Mr. Faisals name is on an international terrorism watch list, Kenyan officials told The Associated Press.
Kenyan authorities put Mr. Faisal on a plane to Lagos, Nigeria, Thursday morning, according to news reports. From there, he was scheduled to fly to the small West African nation of Gambia.
Several countries including the United States refused to allow Mr. Faisal to pass through their borders, but Gambian authorities agreed to help him return to Jamaica, Mr. Kajwang told The Associated Press. Jamaica, for its part, said it would take him in.
Hes free to come to Jamaica, the islands foreign minister, Kenneth Baugh, told a Jamaican radio station. Its his home.
Kenya Deports Muslim Cleric to Gambia - NYTimes.com
By JACK HEALY, January 7, 2010
A Jamaican-born Muslim cleric arrested in Kenya whose online sermons drew the attention of a Nigerian man accused of trying to bring down American airliner was deported on Thursday to Gambia, where he was expected to stay briefly before returning to Jamaica, according to news reports.
The authorities in Kenya, where the cleric, Abdullah el-Faisal, was arrested on Sunday as he traveled through the country on a preaching tour, were quoted by news agencies as saying the clerics history of radical statements and his previous connections with convicted terrorists had made him a serious threat to Kenyas security.
It is in the publics interest not to have him here, the countrys immigration minister, Otieno Kajwang, told The Associated Press.
Mr. Faisal served as the imam of a London mosque that had been attended by the so-called shoe bomber Richard Reid as well as Zacarias Moussaoui, the only person convicted in a United States court on charges stemming from the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks.
In 2003, Mr. Faisal was convicted in Britain on charges of inciting racial hatred in speeches that urged his followers to kill Hindus, Christians, Jews and Americans, and he was accused of influencing one of the bombers who struck the London transit system in July 2005. Britain deported him to Jamaica in May 2007, part of the way through his seven-year prison sentence.
Although Mr. Faisal was not charged with any crime in Kenya, the authorities there acted swiftly to remove him, and said he should not have been allowed to enter the country.
According to news reports from the Kenyan capital of Nairobi, Mr. Faisal was not stopped as he crossed into Kenya from Tanzania because computers at the border crossing had been temporarily disconnected from a database that allows immigration officials to run background checks.
Mr. Faisals name is on an international terrorism watch list, Kenyan officials told The Associated Press.
Kenyan authorities put Mr. Faisal on a plane to Lagos, Nigeria, Thursday morning, according to news reports. From there, he was scheduled to fly to the small West African nation of Gambia.
Several countries including the United States refused to allow Mr. Faisal to pass through their borders, but Gambian authorities agreed to help him return to Jamaica, Mr. Kajwang told The Associated Press. Jamaica, for its part, said it would take him in.
Hes free to come to Jamaica, the islands foreign minister, Kenneth Baugh, told a Jamaican radio station. Its his home.
Kenya Deports Muslim Cleric to Gambia - NYTimes.com
