KENYA ARMY RECRUITMENT IN WAJIR, NEP KENYA

There was an Kenya armed forces recruitment going on within the country the whole of last month to boost the numbers of our armed forces. Our armed forces have lately been involved in various mission including UN peacekeeping missions and also within the country.

Many youth who turned up for the Army recruitment in Wajir were turned down because the army recruiters say they were underweight. This was attributed to hunger and poverty in the district. The ongoing drive in Wajir District attracted hundreds of youth.

Recruiting officer Lt-Col Richard Kenduiwa said that due to their weight, many of the youth could not carry a G3 rifle. He said that most them were also eliminated because their teeth had decayed.
The Army officer attributed this to miraa (khat) chewing.

Kenya somalis have long served in the military notable with high discipline and no nonsense manners they handle their duty.

Former Chief of General Staff, Major Gen.Rtd Mahmoud Mohammed was Kenya Army commander between the years 1981-1982 when the Kenya airforce staged a "foiled" coup and he crushed it. He later on became CGS of the whole Kenya armed forces.

There is also Major General Hussein Ali, Current Kenya Police commissioner who had served in the Kenya Army. He has been moved a rank higher to get some discipline within the Kenya police forces.

UN APPROVES A 6 MONTH FORCE FOR SOMALIA

The U.N. Security Council yesterday authorized an African Union force in Somalia for another six months, a day after Somalia's government signed a peace agreement with some opposition figures.

A unanimous resolution also asked U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon to work with the AU to strengthen U.N. logistical, political and technical support to help bring the African Union Mission in Somalia, or AMISOM, up to U.N. standards.

Somalia has been mired in anarchy since warlords overthrew a dictator in 1991. The waters off the Horn of Africa country are considered among the most dangerous in the world for shipping because of rife piracy.

The peace agreement, which was initialed on June 9 in Djibouti and signed on Monday, has been rejected by hard-liners and done little to quell violence.

More than 8,000 civilians have been killed and 1 million uprooted in fighting since early last year pitting President Abdullahi Yusuf's interim administration and allied Ethiopian forces against Islamist groups.

Last month the AU said it was incapable of stabilizing the situation in Somalia and urged the United Nations to take over peacekeeping operations. The world body has been cautious of stepping in in before some kind of peace is established.

AMISOM has authorized the deployment of 8,000 troops but has only 2,600 on the ground.
Nigeria said last week it would deploy a battalion of 850 officers and soldiers to Somalia in the next few weeks to join existing AMISOM forces. AMISOM is made up of soldiers from Uganda and Burundi. AMISOM was meant to replace Ethiopian troops whose presence inflamed the insurgency because they helped Somalia's government dislodge an Islamist movement at the start of 2007.
A shortage of funds and the violence raging in the capital Mogadishu have prompted several nations to reconsider their offers of troops.

The Security Council's resolution stated a willingness to consider at an appropriate time "a peacekeeping operation to take over from AMISOM, subject to progress in the political process and improvement in the security situation on the ground."

KENYAN PASTROLISTS CONTRIBUTE MUCH TO KENYAN ECONOMY

A Cabinet minister Monday said pastoral communities should be compensated for the sound care they have been providing to the environment.
Northern Kenya and other Arid Lands minister Mohamed Elmi noted that pastoral communities had for a long time protected wildlife, forests and grasslands.

And with the challenges arising from climate change, he said they should be empowered to influence policies and implementation at national level.

Mr Elmi was speaking during the launch of a paper on climate change prepared by Oxfam International. The paper, “Survival of the Fittest: Pastoralism and Climate Change in East Africa”, addresses the impact of climate change in the region on pastoral livelihoods. The minister asked governments of East Africa to act on recommendations if pastoralism is to adapt and survive global climate change.

“Climate change is not an abstract, scientific phenomenon. We must never forget that it has real human costs and consequences. I remember very clearly the heavy El Nino rains in 1998. Northern Kenya, including my own constituency, Wajir, was cut off from the rest of Kenya when the roads were washed away.

“Markets collapsed, food and supplies ran out, and there was a major outbreak of malaria. The impact of the floods was made worse by the drought which preceded them.”

THE "OBAMA NATION" THAT WILL CLINCH US PRESIDENCY FOR OBAMA

There is this book in the US, The Obama nation, that has become the best selling book, albeit for nothing but "inaccuracies and distortion" in which Kenya features prominently, depicting Obama as a relative of Raila Odinga and a sympathiser of radical Islam and communism.

It is the kind of books written by those whose political fortune is fading and will do everything to malign, mystify almost everything to appear "their way" so that they are viewed right. What is typical about the book is, is that, it is politically "inclined" towards the Obama rivals and is just same as other previously biased books published during US elections for propaganda purposes.

One point to note is that, Similar best selling attacks were published about former presidents Reagan and Clinton during their campaigns to reach the White House who significantly went on to win the presidency.

Even, during the Democratic nominations against Hillary Clinton, right-wing activists in the US had attempted to use Senator Obama’s Kenyan links to discredit him. The activists had claimed that Mr Obama is Mr Odinga’s relative, whom they described as a “socialist who planned to introduce Sharia Law in Kenya”. They hoped to use Senator Obama's trip to North Eastern Kenya, wearing Somali Traditional dress to discredit him all in vain only for Mr Obama to win the Democratic nomination against Senator Hillary Clinton.

Kenya's Prime Minister Raila Odinga has been thrust into the thick of the American presidential campaign in the new book being used to attack Democratic candidate Barack Obama simply because the senators father has been a Kenyan of Luo descent just like Raila and that, the editor and the publishers out of innocence of Obama, Raila and Kenya, thinks Obama and Raila are "cousins" and that he, Raila is linked with Muslims.


The Books talks of "Much is made of the Muslim heritage of the senator’s (Obama's) father. The Obama family in Africa is a Muslim family of the predominantly Christian Luo tribe in the predominantly Christian country of Kenya.”

I, like many other Kenyans, am really pertubed by the inaccuracies this book is feeding the american public. Before going to prints on issues that are "irrelevant" to the american audience, which have no meaning to the americans and which americans think will never help them anything in their coming presidential polls, it is prudent to make some facts known about Senator Obama, Kenya's Prime Minister Raila and issues sorrounding Obama's Muslim heritage and Kenyan Muslims.

FACTS:

KENYA:

1. Kenya is a country east of Africa, known for hospitality, tourism, wild animals and democracy
2. Kenya is inhabited by more than 42 tribes, practicing various forms of worship, which is guaranteed in the country's constitution.
3. Kenya is not a christian country, although Christianity is the dominant religion. Kenya Muslims are growing in numbers, from being 10% in the 80's to 35% in the 90's.
4. Kenya Muslims are more open in terms of practicing their religion. There is nothing called Muslim extremists, Muslim fundamentalists, Moderate Muslims in Kenya.
5. Muslims of Kenya come from all the 42 tribes of Kenya. We have Somali Muslims, Luos Muslims, Gikuyu Muslims, Embu Muslims, Massai Muslims, Kalenjin Muslims, Taita Muslims, Giriama Muslims and so on.
6. Kenya Muslims have been marginalized by succesive regimes because of their religion interms of education, access to basic health, infrastructure and citizenship.
7. Kenyans of all ages, tribes support their ancestral son, Senator Barrack Obama to clinch US Presidency.

SENATOR OBAMA:

1. Senators father has been a Kenyan while his mother has been an American.
2. Senators Father, a muslim died while he was still a small boy and his mother, then a christian, took over his parenthood.
3. Senator Obama is an American citizen and not a Kenyan of American Citizenship.
4. Kenyans regard the senator as one of their own by ancestry and not by citizenship.
5. Senator's Only Kenya's claim is his ancestry, his relatives and so on.
6. Recent "outburst" about Senator Obama's Muslim connection is baseless as he is a mature person who confessed to all and sundry, that is a christian.
7. Obama's Trip to the Northern Kenya, a region dominated by Somali Muslims is just same as any other trip undertaken by any other adventurer. Even if Mccain comes to NEP Kenya, we will accord him the same treatment.
8. Senator Obama is more diplomatic in solving issues than his rivals who would love to smear him as war-like. Take a clue from his political pronouncements.
9. Senator Obama is more universal and may not even know much about the "Sharia law" which is practiced by Muslims.
10. Senator Obama's father may have been alcoholic or practiced "polygamy" but that is not him. The Senator has his own life based on american values.
11. Despite the publisher’s claim that Mr Corsi carried out “meticulous research,” he gets some facts wrong in his analysis of Kenyan politics.
12. Senator Obama is in fact a practising Christian, but Mr Corsi implies that this religious affiliation may be a façade.
13. Senator Obama's insistence of handing Odinga the primierhsip of Kenya came after consultation of various countries and for the benfit of Kenya.
14. Senator Obama seems to be winning this coming US Election.

PRIME MINISTER RAILA ODINGA:

1. He is the second Kenya's prime Minister from independence, Second only to Kenyatta.
2. His post of PM came from the confusion of the year 2007 Kenya's election in which majority of Kenyans think he "won" the presidency.
3. PM Odinga's party ODM, won majority of parliamentary seats in the Kenya's national assembly not because of war but by it's strength and popularity.
4. PM Odinga's party ODM, won six out of Eight Kenya provinces.
5. PM Odinga was being supported by both Christian and Muslim groups to take over Kenya's presidency to weep out corruption that has become rampant.
6. PM Odinga is a "Anglican" christian who favours freedom of worship enshrined in the Kenya's constitution. At one point in the book, the author suggests that Mr Odinga might be a Muslim, even though, the book states, he “today professes to be an Anglican” which is wrong.
7. PM Odinga studied in Germany, Then East Germany, a socialist country by then, but that doesn't make him a communist judging from his political machination of events in Kenya and elsewhere. He wouldn't talk harshly of Robert Mugabe if he were dictatorial or communist type.
8. PM Raila stood against the marginalization of Kenyan Muslims and that is why many Muslims voted for him. Kenyan Muslims have long been marginalized by succesive regimes.
9. PM Raila treated Kenyan Muslims the same way, other Kenyans are supposed to be treated.
10. Many so called American Missionaries in Kenya delve into politics they know less of. Such kind of missionaries tend to their own interests and align themselves to various political parties for their own political interests.

The book — The Obama Nation, a deliberate play on the word “abomination” – written by Jerome Corsi contains many inaccuracies and distortions, in which, the author uses Mr Odinga in particular as a means of attacking Senator Obama on the two fronts of radical Islam and communism.

Kenya's PM office spokesman, Mr Salim Lone, last night trashed the allegations, saying: “You would think that the PM’s four months in office, and the role he played in restoring peace to Kenya and reconciling our people would have finally shamed into silence all of Mr Odinga’s demonisers.”

Obama's campaign group in response publishes some more facts about Obama and his family. The FightTheSmears.com website cites page numbers in Dreams from My Father in which those issues are discussed.

By repeatedly drawing connections between Senator Obama and Islam, Mr Corsi is playing upon anti-Muslim sentiments in the US that remain widespread and acute in the aftermath of the 2001 terror attacks on New York and Washington.

The Obama Nation delves into Kenya’s history, mainly through an account of the tribal and political roles played by Jomo Kenyatta, Tom Mboya and Oginga Odinga which have been overtaken by events.

WHAT ARE YOUR OPINIONS ON FGM(Female Genital Mutilation)

The Government has supported calls for introduction of new laws to impose harsh penalties against those practicing female genital mutilation (FGM).

Gender and Children Affairs Minister Esther Murugi, while supporting proposals made earlier by Members of Parliament, said only four communities of 42 do not practice the vice.

Mirugi says, the situation was worse in Somalis and Boranas of Northern Kenya with 99 per cent of women undergoing FGM. Among the Mijikenda it is five per cent. "Among the Abugusii, the practice is 96 per cent and in Maasai it is 94 per cent," she said.

Murugi while speaking at the two-day capacity building workshop on FGM for parliamentarians at Lake Naivasha Simba Lodget, said it was time harsh rules were imposed to curb this vice. The Workshop was aimed to sensitise the audience and support the proposed law. Murugi said the vice was on the increase in Central Kenya, with 23 per cent of girls getting ‘cut’ annually. "We are lobbying our male counterparts in the House to support the coming Motion against FGM so that we can do away with this crude vice," she said.

She said chiefs and their assistants had been ordered to arrest parents subjecting minors to the culture, adding that they would be charged under the Children’s Act. Some participants at the capacity building workshop on FGMwept after watching a documentary where a three-year-old girl was being circumcised.

During the opening session, the MPs expressed shock on learning that half the country’s women population has undergone the rite, most between the age of 10 and 15.

ODM-PNU KAMUNKUNJI WAR GETTING "DIRTIER"

The war of words between ODM and PNU occasioned by the controversial Kamukunji election results went a notch higher, threatening to erupt into another test of unity for the Grand Coalition.
Kamukunji appeared to provide another forum for eruption of undercurrents of pent up anger and rivalry that have rocked the coalition since it was formed in April.

PNU and ODM principals, President Kibaki and Prime Minister Raila Odinga, have tactfully avoided plunging into coalition battles, but party officials have gone at one other’s throats with no holds barred. ODM took on PNU yesterday, branding the Kamukunji results "another stolen election", saying it may jolt the grand coalition agreement. But PNU told ODM to move to court if it felt aggrieved and stop throwing "blanket" blame for a decision prompted by a court order.

The war of words between top party officials from both sides was reminiscent of the showdown soon after the announcement of the disputed presidential results on December 30, plunging the country into a wave of violence that left hundreds dead and thousands displaced.

The eruption on Tuesday was an escalation of protests by ODM that followed the Monday announcement of PNU’s Simon Mbugua as the winner in Kamukunji. Results for the constituency in the last General Election were not announced. But a court recently ruled that the ECK had no powers to cancel an election and ordered the electoral body to tally the results and announce the winner.

ODM protested that the repeat should have been a recount and bitterly disputed the re-tally (adding up figures of already counted votes), which was ordered by the court.

The party alleged that its political rival-cum-coalition partner PNU robbed them of the seat in disregard of democratic principles and the court order.

Party Secretary-General Anyang’ Nyong’o, who is also the Medical Services minister, delivered a stern warning that the future of the coalition was at risk following the Kamkunji events.

"If PNU is not sincere in its arrangement with ODM and continues to steal elections using the police force, we will simply pull out. We are not mincing our words," said an angry Prof Nyong’o at a Press conference at Orange House, the party headquarters in Nairobi.

He said the coalition lacked mechanisms of resolving conflict and promised he would raise the matter with President Kibaki in the Cabinet.

TALKING OF FARAH MAALIM..............

Watching Farah Maalim in action, you tend to see practical evidence a magistrate or a judge is usually a failed or reluctant private practice lawyer.
That is not to say the Bench is for the daft or the cowardly.

Sometimes, if you have a modicum of scruples or if you prefer honest living, you may find the Bar naturally disagreeable. It shares reputation hazards with carpentry, masonry or other professionals where completing the job within the promised time is entirely dependent on the absence of a better paying, similar job.


Maalim has been a practicing advocate. On its own, that should not suffice to draw conclusions on private depths of the Deputy Speaker’s honesty, guilt or even qualms and never mind what Jakoyo Midiwo or anyone else thinks.


From experience, we know had the Gem MP differed with the Chair at Junction Inn or anywhere else where revellers do not give a hoot if Alvaro is whisky or milk, someone else other than the Government co-Chief Whip would have been thrown out and not necessarily with his clothes on. Whatever he thinks of the Bench, the Deputy Speaker has apparently picked a thing or two from it. That is hardly surprising considering lawyers and judges are classmates at the Law School.
Post-graduation days see them going different directions often dictated by the scent of money, plain laziness or, occasionally, an element of probity.


Maalim must be watching plenty of the popular sitcom, the Divorce Court proceedings. Alternatively, he must be a keen viewer of Judge Judy. Listening to his bellow of his interpretation of Standing Orders and his version of communications from the Chair, you sense great admiration for the no-nonsense TV drama judges. He seems to fashion his style of delivery on their character.
In a way, the stern thunder in Maalim’s voice is a welcome complement to the sonorous voice of the Speaker.


Having replaced the booming vocal chords of Francis ole Kaparo, Kenneth Marende’s soft-speech tends to draw unfavourable comparisons and the erroneous conclusions he is comparatively weak.
But you need to have listened to his occasional authoritative dispatches to appreciate he must be a keen student of Woodrow Wilson, the 28th President of the United States. As the former president advised, if you wield a big stick, you can afford to talk softly.


On the contrary, Maalim prefers to shout and to wield a gun at the same time. Besides learning his style from TV, the Lagdera MP perhaps also picked a few habits from the Bar. Sometimes, a good lawyer learns you need to shout to sound serious. Some magistrates and judges, never to mention witness and clients, are hard-of-hearing either biologically or expediently. Thus if you desire their reaction, you must talk like a Jeevanjee Garden lunchtime preacher. Whether the audience is one or a thousand, you must talk at the top of your voice. Or perhaps the voice is not that loud. Maybe because he is tall, Maalim gets too close to the speaker. By contrast, Kaparo and Marende are in the same league with Moses Lessonet and Emilio Kathuri.


Whenever the Eldama Ravine MP and his Manyatta counterpart plan to talk in Parliament, they must remember to deliberately wear shoes with raised soles. It is the only way they can get close to the hanging microphones that were apparently never meant to be used by anyone below 5’5 inches. But then, if that were the case, how do you explain the apparent anger in Maalim words? His tone and accompanying gestures betray an irate Chair.


His body language depicts a man ruing the fact that he cannot use his fists, kicks and God knows what else on some of the hotheads in Parliament. Often, it is difficult to see or appreciate the source or the reason of his emotions. From suspecting Special Projects minister Naomi Shaaban’s ministerial statement will be too long to imagining Bony Khalwale’s Point of Order might be frivolous, the Deputy Speaker can work his mouth to an incredible fury in seconds.

It is understandable for the Chair to occasionally lose his cool. Were Parliament a high school, it is almost certain some of our students would have tried to set it on fire.

A Kenyan FLY540 plane has gone down in bad weather near Mogadishu North Airport with 3 crew members. The plane, a F27-500 aircraft registration 5Y BVF, was trying to land during the 7.30am accident. The Airport, known as K50 Airport, is located 50 kilometres south of Mogadishu.

The crew consisted of two pilots and an engineer. The aircraft was transporting khat (miraa) from Kenya to neighbouring Somalia and It is understood that the plane hit a telecommunication antenna belonging to NationLink Telecom at the edge of the airstrip.

The Fly 540 Aviation Ltd says it has activated a crisis management plan and a rescue team has flown to Mogadishu.

DEKHA IBRAHIM: A PERFECT FIT FOR NOBEL PRIZE

"UJINGA" COST US THE EASTLEIGH PARLIAMENTARY SEAT

Although Kamukunji is bigger than Eastleigh where many Somalis live, but of late, Kamukunji has been seen to mean Eastleigh.

During Last year parliamentary elections, two Kenyan somalis went for a seat which they would have easily grabbed. Ibrahim Ahmed aka "Johnny" was a favourite although in came, one little known, Abdi Yussuf of ODM-Kenya who spoilt it.

Yesterday, the returning officer under instruction to declare the results, announced that PNU’s Simon Mbugua the winner of last year’s parliamentary contest in Nairobi’s Kamukunji constituency.

Mr Mbugua was announced to have garnered 22,614 votes in the December polls to beat his ODM rival Ibrahim Hamed of ODM who got 16,016 votes. The other key contender, Mr Abdi Yusuf Hassan of ODM-Kenya, garnered 7,200.

The results were, however, immediately rejected by the ODM party with its candidate announcing that he would launch a petition challenging Mr Mbugua’s win. Mr Ahmed and his supporters who included nominated MP Rachel Shebesh said that they could not accept that results announced at the Shauri Moyo Social Hall because they were “irregular”.

The tallying exercise was cancelled on December 28, last year, following alleged attempts to introduce fresh ballot papers in some boxes. On July 29 this year, the High Court ordered the Electoral Commission of Kenya (ECK) to complete the tallying and announce the winner.

IS KENYA A US MILITARY OPERATION POST

Strange and unscheduled military planes from the US have in the last two months been making secretive night landings in Kenya, in what are feared as missions to move terror suspects from the country.

The night landings of US planes at Nairobi’s Wilson Airport, carrying American Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) officials have raised suspicion and controversy not only among local security agents, but also players in aviation.

Questions have been raised over US aircraft operating from the airport.

The Prescott Support Group, which has been accused in other parts of the world of being involved in renditioning terror suspects, was allowed to operate in Kenya two months ago.
Documents in our possession show that the company was allowed to fly in and out in a Gazette notice dated June 20 for two years.

Prescott Support Group, which according to the American media, has links with the CIA, applied for renewal of their licence in May, even after the Kenya Association of Air Operators (KAAO) questioned their licence and mission.

Despite the concerns, the Kenya Civil Aviation Authority (KCAA) went ahead and granted the two-year licence although ordinarily they should have sought clearance from the Department of Defence (DOD) because of their military aircraft.

According to the Gazette notice, Prescott Group was given the secret landing licence through the US Embassy in Nairobi, whose officials we could not get a comment from on Sunday. KCAA Director-General Chris Kuto on Sunday confirmed the operations of the planes, saying they were involved in "Turkana for mapping purposes".

Kuto said the planes carry only American soldiers and their equipment and not passengers, contrary to information from sources at Wilson Airport who had indicated that some passengers did not look like US military officers who are normally in uniform.

Kuto added that the company applied to for aerial mapping operations in Turkana. "We gave them the licence based on that information. We did not see anything wrong or any reason to deny them the licence," he said. The presence of the planes comes at a time when security personnel have launched a search for wanted terror suspect Fazul Abdullah Mohamed.

With growing fears of terrorism in the region, there was speculation that the CIA could be behind night flights to arrest and rendition suspects from Kenya.

On Thursday, Kenya marked the 10th anniversary since the terrorist attack on the US embassy in Nairobi on August 7, 1998. The terrorism remained real after the mastermind, Fazul, sneaked into the country but beat a police dragnet for the fourth time.

Since Fazul was seen in Malindi two weeks ago, local and international security agents have been on high alert and arrested several suspects who had interacted with him. Fazul’s alledged August 7, 1998 explosive arsenal in Nairobi left more than 200 people dead and another 5,000 others seriously injured.

Anti-terrorist police arrested a suspect on Sunday believed to be a close associate of Fazul, even as suspicion emerged in the police force that some security officers could be on the payroll of the international terrorist.

The Prescott Group was allowed to make non-scheduled air service for passengers and freight in and out of Kenya.

The group was also allowed to operate from Africa and beyond using aircraft CN235, l382, BE200 based in the US, Wilson Airport and Jomo Kenyatta International Airport. The operators had applied for the services early this year. It was not clear the kind of passengers and cargo they would carry even though officials said it was only military.

Non-scheduled flights mean they can fly into the country and take off from remote, unimproved locations not served by traditional air carriers within their area of operations. The Standard established that a Bich 200 aircraft, belonging to the US, was undergoing maintenance and TCAS installation at the Wilson Airport.

"The crew of the aircraft, both Americans, had said they would be around for 10 days, but they are still around. I don’t know where they came from and what their mission is all about," an engineer at the hangar, who sought anonymity, said.

Extraordinary rendition refers to the controversial American procedure in which suspects are apprehended, sometimes secretly, and sent for interrogation in countries where torture is used as a routine form of interrogation.

Leaked CIA reports cite suspects being arrested, shackled, blindfolded and sedated, after which they are transported, usually by private jet, to other countries. Although the practice has been in use since the 1990s, its scope has widened immensely since the September 11, 2001 attacks in US.
In Kenya, US flights operate using Air Operating certificate (AOC) belonging to East African company based at Wilson Airport.

In their licence application last year, they wanted a domestic and international operation licence through the US Embassy, but were denied the domestic one. According to licensing rules, international airlines cannot be granted a domestic licence in a foreign country.

But after failing to get the domestic licence, officials from the Ministry of Foreign Affairs were said to have intervened and asked for the airline’s exemption to operate domestic flights. Police Spokesman Eric Kiraithe said he was not aware of the planes’ operations. He said the planes were licensed by KCAA to carry out freight services.

"That is a civil aviation issue and does not concern the police. They were licensed by KCAA so we do not come in," he said. We could not reach the US embassy and military spokesman for comment. Their mobile phones were switched off.

During the May 12 licensing meeting, local air operators demanded to know the type of operations the Prescott Group would engage in and why they applied for a civilian licence while they were supposed to apply to the military given their operations were military, not civilian.

But a representative of the Prescott Group, Captain (Rtd) Jorim Kagua, told the meeting that they were not in a position to divulge information about the airline’s operations. However, he said they would perform military operations.

A KCAA official told The Standard yesterday that an agreement was signed between Kenya and the US government to perform undisclosed military operations. Besides the agreement, Kenya and the US recently signed a bilateral agreement for direct commercial flights.

Kenya has previously handed over more than 15 terror suspects to the US and Ethiopian authorities in an exercise that angered many Muslim leaders.

RELIEF FOOD DIS-APPEARING....GOVERNMENT AGENCIES NOT DOING THEIR WORK ....??

The case of stolen relief food is not new.

Aid workers are selling relief food meant for refugees at Dadaab camp, The Standard on Sunday can confirm.

The workers are diverting the food in collaboration with business people. After a series of muted complaints from the refugees, The Standard on Sunday pitched tent at Dagahaley, Ifo and Hagardera camps to investigate the claims. And true to the complaints, their crew captured on camera the said sale of relief supplies. They traced aid workers as they loaded bags of wheat flour from the stores to deliver the same to a local businessman in Hagardera.

The picture on the left shows food being offloaded from one of the vehicles belonging to a relief agency.

One of the vehicles, a Land Rover, registration number KAD 950R belonging to an aid agency, left the agency’s stores on July 25 at noon and sped to section A at Block A1, where it offloaded sacks of wheat flour before speeding back to base.

Refugees say sale of relief food is the norm. On the eve of every distribution day, it is understood that sacks of food donations are smuggled into traders’ dwellings in a flourishing trade that nets extra pay cheques right under the noses of refugees.

It is an irony of sorts since the mission statement of some of the agencies reads: "…in the service of suffering individuals and families in the poorest communities in the world" and "in the service of the wretched".

Food distribution at Dadaab camps is done twice a month, according to the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees. The supplies include maize, wheat flour, cooking oil and nutritional porridge.

Every refugee registered with the aid agencies gets 3kg of maize, 3kg of wheat flour and a cup of cooking oil. Those with children get an additional 3kg of nutritious porridge. Food ration has significantly reduced due to changes in the way aid, from rich countries, is financed and delivered to Africa. Some donor nations were dissatisfied with the way the food was distributed.

The United States, top aid donor to Africa for decades, has diverted most of its aid fund to war on terrorism and reconstruction of battered Iraq. However, the little that it donates is often diverted to satisfy self-interests.

"Many are times we are intimidated for raising a finger over the diversion. Some have even threatened to deny us our monthly relief supply if we dare question them," a refugee who sought anonymity at Hagardera said.

At the camp, the illegal sale of relief food by aid workers is referred to as ‘Burmudo’, Somali for "stealing from the poor".

"Some of these aid workers you are seeing have conspired with business people to torment us. They even direct medicines to private clinics and chemists in the refugee camps. And they say they are helping us," mourned another refugee. "Some of the aid workers are good but their silence over the issue makes them accomplices."

Some of the diverted food and medicine have ready market in the larger North-Eastern Province and across the borders in Ethiopia. The supplies are sold locally, including in hotels, with some clearly labelled "Not for sale. From the American people".

A trader whom we asked why he was selling relief food told us it was normal.

To reduce suspicion, the food is sneaked from the stores using the aid agencies’ vehicles to the traders’ homes. It is then ferried to the shops using donkey carts.

The officials in charge of the distribution, as well as the security personnel, are soothed with cash to keep the cartel bonded. With every delivery, the traders repackage the foods to conceal the aid agencies’ trademark. The sacks used are from local manufacturing companies, particularly the National Cereals and Produce Board and Mumias Sugar Company.

In an apparent move to cash in on the current food crisis, the food is transported to Ethiopia, via Wajir, through the Moyale border town. A 90kg bag of maize from the refugee camps is sold at Sh4,000 in Ethiopia, investigation revealed.

Ironically, to prove that Government agencies are not doing their work, The food passes several police roadblocks without the police impounding the consignment.

"We don’t farm here in the refugee camps to produce wheat, maize in such large quantities, yet the Kenyan police allow the consignment to pass through the numerous road blocks without questioning the source," said a refugee.

The supplies are also loaded onto buses that commute between the refugee camps and Garissa town. Refugees claimed some officials use names of colleagues and relatives who were relocated to Europe or US to divert the ration for sale.

CARE officials at the camp, contacted over their personnel who were caught on camera, referred us to their headquarters in Nairobi, as they were not allowed to talk to the press.

However, the UNHCR spokesman, Emmanuel Nyabera, said aid workers are bound by a code of conducts that requires them not to discriminate in aid distribution or engage in corrupt activities.
"We are often vigilant," said Nyabera. "In the event people are found to have gone against the stipulated codes of conduct, action will be taken against the culprit."

Contacted over their personnel caught on camera CARE Country Director Mr Bud Crandall said the organisations had launched investigation.

"We take the allegations seriously and will address the issue seriously," Crandall said.

"At the same time we have to acknowledge that there could be a number of people from other aid agencies involved in the deal and in the event people are found to have gone against the stipulated codes of conduct action will be taken against the culprit".

"Aid workers are guided by a code of conducts that requires them not to discriminate in aid distribution or engage in corrupt activities that could jeopardise their objectives," said Crandall.

WOMANKIND KENYA: KENYA SOMALI WOMEN IMMENSE CONTRIBUTION

Hubbie Hussein Al-Haji grew up in northeastern Kenya in an ethnic Somali community with a long tradition of pastoral living. In this article, Ending Violence in Kenya's Somali Community, Hubbie with her co-founder of Womankindkenya, Hon Sofia Abdinoor, who has since been nominated into the Kenya parliament discuss how they contribute to their society.

Life in NEP Kenya is hard. Men move with herds of animals in search of pasture and water. Women and girls often walk 20 kilometers or more to fetch water and wood for daily living, often at great personal risk in this conflict-affected area.

Conflict has long plagued the region as communities fight over scarce resources for their own survival and their livestock. Much of this tension is increased by political divisions and differences between clans, according to Al-Haji.

And, violence against women is a way of life for too many in her community, Al-Haji says. Almost 99 percent of all Somali women in northeastern Kenya undergo the most severe form of female genital cutting causing life-long ill health and suffering.

This harmful procedure has been considered by many to be a long-standing traditional practice that should not be questioned, especially by women.

“A Somali woman was supposed to be seen and not heard,” Al-Haji says. But as co-founder of the community group

Womankind Kenya, “now I’m being heard.”

Her organization was founded in 1989 to improve the lives of girls and women in the largely Muslim community. The organization runs programs in education, health, water and sanitation, conflict management and peace building. It has opened schools for young girls who have lost their parents to violent conflict or for other reasons, including AIDS.

Womankind Kenya (http://www.womankindkenya.blogspot.com/) Womankind Kenya is an indigenous local non-governmental organization based in the Northeastern province of Kenya with its headquarters in the Garissa Municipality. Founded in 1989 by local Somali pastoral women who were committed to improving the living standards and level of decision making of their fellow pastoral women and the girl child in the province. Womankind Kenya exists to support the most vulnerable members of the community, specifically women, destitute children and poor households of the Northeastern province and to build their capacity, knowledge and ability to take control of their lives. The International Leadership Institute has developed more than ten years of partnership with Womankind Kenya. Members of the ILI have traveled to Garissa to support continuing community programs in the Northeastern province and directed resources to connecting organization in the region including the Garissa Hospital.

An important part of her work has been to raise awareness about the harmful affects of female genital cutting and to combat it. Girls who attend Womankind Kenya’s schools do not undergo the procedure. And, staff members conduct educational campaigns and visit families in their homes to change attitudes about the practice.

One of the primary obstacles Al-Haji faces in her work is that women’s opinions are rarely accepted in the public arena. She adds, “I come from a culture that does not allow men to sit with women, or women to address political issues.”

But her work has made an impact. She approaches clan leaders, mostly older men, to gain their support. "We take them from where they are. They talk about what is good and what is not good. We explain that women are human beings,” she says, and eventually these leaders change their actions, “even if they don't accept it internally.”

Al-Haji joined 14 other women leaders at CEDPA’s recent WomenLead in Peace and Stability training, held Oct. 23-Nov. 17 in Washington, DC. Because of her strong commitment and demonstrated leadership in improving the lives of women and girls, CEDPA awarded Al-Haji with the Ralph U. Stone Memorial Award.

The award, given each year to a CEDPA training participant, was established by the parents and family of former CEDPA Training Director Ralph Stone as an endowed living testimony and memorial to his many contributions to improving women's leadership worldwide.

Hubbie Al-Haji is now back in Kenya, renewed in her commitment to lift up women and girls in her community and bolster them in their efforts to end violence.

BAHKAM FAMILY ARRESTED BY THE KENYA POLICE AT GARISSA

Do you remember the Bahkam family in Garissa? The Bahkam family has all along lived in Garissa for the past uncountable years and have been good kenyan citizens.

Yesterday, Police in Garissa claimed the couple communicated with Msallam Saleh Mahdi accused by US and Kenyan forces of plotting and supporting the August 7, 1998 terrorist attack on American embassies in Nairobi and Dar-es-Salaam by telephone recently and arrested them.

Salim Muhamad Bahkam and his wife, whose name was not given, were arrested from their house in Garissa town on Thursday morning and taken to the local police station where they were questioned the whole day. Salim’s wife is related to Msallam and police believe she can lead them to him.

According to a relative, Ali Shebe, the couple were still in detention by last evening although North Eastern PPO Steven Chelimo claimed police "only summoned two sisters for some investigation we are conducting".

He declined to give details.

The Kenya police and the US intelligence are purported to be doing some serious search for people suspected to have connections with terrorism and have for the past one week been camping in parts of NEP.

The Government and Major Muslim organizations have ruled out that, Muslims citizens rights must be upheld even while conducting door to door searches for suspects.

Muslims parliamentarians and other concerned Kenyan MPs shot down a bill on Ani-Terrorism in the Kenyan parliament. Muslims claimed the bill was "suspiciously" brought to check on Muslims.

DEPUTY SPEAKER FARAH MAALIM ON KIMUNYA REPORT

The saga over a parliamentary report on the conduct of former Finance Minister Amos Kimunya intensified, with members of a committee writing to the Speaker to protest over the conduct of his deputy.

Deputy Speaker Farah Maalim is now in a spot following his refusal to have the report, which indicts Kimunya, tabled in the House. The Finance, Planning and Trade Committee, which investigated the controversial sale of the Grand Regency Hotel on behalf of Parliament, has now written a protest letter to Mr Kenneth Marende over the behaviour of Maalim.

Maalim blocked the committee Chairman Chris Okemo from tabling the report, saying procedure had been breached since the report had not been circulated to all members in the House. The committee met yesterday morning at Parliament buildings and expressed their disgust at the manner the Deputy Speaker had handled the matter.

Sources at the meeting told The Standard on Saturday that members were enraged with Maalim’s "unusual" behaviour, which they said was not informed by any Standing Order or any tradition and practice of the House.

The sources further said the refusal by Maalim to have the report tabled as per the ruling of the House Speaker two weeks ago "smacked of conspiracy" that does not augur well for Parliament, which is supposed to be independent.

"What our chairman did when he rose to table the report is that he was complying with a ruling of the Chair that the committee must do so yesterday (Thursday) failure to which we would have been in contempt of the House and the Chair," added a source who preferred anonymity.

The sources said they were stunned the same ruling by Maalim was never applied when the Committee on Administration, National Security and Local Authorities, chaired by Mt Elgon MP Fred Kapondi on Immigration Minister Otieno Kajwang, tabled its report.

At the same time, the sources disclosed that the committee had decided to reopen investigations into the controversial sale of the hotel to interview two other witnesses who had appeared before the President-appointed Justice Cockar Commission that is also investigating the matter.

Sources privy to the report say the committee had recommended to President Kibaki that Kimunya was unfit to return to the Cabinet.

KENYA'S PM RAILA PLANS TO "TACKLE" SOMALIA

Kenya's PM Raila Odinga, while marking the 10th anniversary of the simultaneous US embassy bombings in Nairobi and Dar es Salaam, says Kenya's struggle with terrorism will continue as long as neighbouring Somalia remains lawless.

"We need to build a new strategic engagement with popular voices in Somalia." The PM said while emphasizing on the need to get Somalia on it's feet to help control proliferaton of small arms and terrorism.

The site which was peviously occupied by the US Embassy has now turned into a memorial ground visited by relatives and survivors of the bombings.

"A lawless Somalia threatens Kenya's security, We must therefore never relax our vigilance against these extremists" Mr Odinga said during the commemoration ceremony.

He said the bombing ended country's innocence about the brutality of terrorism.

Mr Odinga said the failure by the security agencies to apprehend Mr Mohammed reminded Kenyans that "we have terrorists in our midst still planning awful deeds". "We must therefore never relax our vigilance against these extremists. Let me assure Kenyans that this government will do everything possible to prevent us from ever again being attacked," Mr Odinga said.

Sunday's botched operation to arrest Mr Mohammed has raised questions in Kenya about whether the government is doing enough to protect its citizens from the threat of terrorism. The police have intensified their manhunt for the fugitive in the coastal city of Mombasa, and security along the country's borders has been tightened.

Kenya's sizeable Muslim community(slightly over 10 million) has long complained that the "war on terror" is being used to victimise Muslims but the prime minister denied claims that the community was being used as a scapegoat, saying Islam was a religion of peace.

At least 19 Kenyan Muslims are being held in Ethiopia on suspicion of involvement in terrorism and therewherebout unknown. Amnesty International raised an alarm just last week.

At about 1030 local time on 7 August 1998, a suicide bomber threw a grenade at the guardhouse outside the US embassy in Kenya's capital, Nairobi, and tried to ram his way through the barricades.

He then detonated the explosives packed inside the vehicle, severely damaging the embassy and bringing down a seven-story building near by, killing 218 people and wounding more than 4,000.
A simultaneous attack on the embassy in Dar es Salaam killed 11 people, and wounded 72.

The bombings were percieved as al-Qaeda's first major strike in its conflict with the United States.

However, Kenya's foreign Minister Wetangula says, " As we fight terrorism, we must make sure that people's human rights are not violated" citing cases of threatening the right of Kenyan Muslims

NO CRISIS IN THE NORTH: A FAILED IMMIGRATION POLICY

Of late, what is happening in North Eastern province is not a good sign. Newspapers are making NEP appear as if the region is "burning" and in crisis. While there is no problem, Terrorism and insecurity appears to shape NEP .

We have over the years been fighting the notion that NEP is insecure for business investment. Big Companies were shunning NEP because they were told the region is insecure. That damaged us a lot. Our Kenyan Somali people from North of Kenya have been doing everything possible to keep peace, maintain security to spur growth and open the region for business companies and investors to develop the region.

By the way, do you know how much the word Insecurity costs NEP ?

From the Kenyatta regime to Moi's administration, NEP was construed to mean insecurity and a place not worth any investment. The region was said to contain criminals, most of the time, pictured with AK-47 rifles going by the nickname of the bandits and Shiftas, a term the government kept reffering to those Somalis who wanted seccesion to Somalia from Kenya.

Not all Kenyan Somalis want seccesion it shoulf be noted. However, For over 30 years, as the government kept marginalizing the people, many people were frustrated and thought seccesion was better. The Government was not giving them incentives, was not building schools or even equipping those exsiting schools, hospitals were rare, school leavers from NEP were not getting employment and nepotism was rife in all government departments and so on.


Many NEP residents were disenfranchised by the prospects of eating the cake with other kenyans, hence many decided that, seccesion to Somalia was better as they share language and culture with the people of Somalia. The government of Kenya also started becoming aggressive to the people of NFD, threatening them against seccesion and so on.

That is what happened and an ensuing fight started between the Kenyan Government and the people of the region. The Shifta war started and the government in turn imposed state of emergencies. Many innocent Kenyan Somalis were killed, some tortured by security forces and some got missing from their homes. Business Companies avoided the region and even Worldwide brands like Coca-Cola which would make a substantial market in the region avoided making inroads.

After the collapse of Somalia, the people of NEP decided that, Since peace is a very important aspect of growth and development, they decided it was time they join other Kenyans to contribute to nation building. That said, For the past 15 years, Parents have resorted to educate their children and insecurity in the Kenya's North has become a story.

But now some people are again taking us backwards. We don't want NEP to be associated with terrorism or insecurity as we expect business and growth with relative peace. There is no terrorism in Kenya's north and what happened recently as in the case of Terrorism, can happen in any part of Kenya as long as we are not serious with immigration and the country's security apparatus is not working properly.

We have had cases of insecuirty in Mt.Elgon and this is also same. Some criminals or people believed to be criminals have come inside our people. This should not make us criminals or the region insecure. Our region is among the most secure region in kenya and if you need some proof, go there and see.

This is totally because of a failed immigration policy in Kenya. Don't talk about securing Kenyan Borders when the government itself has no resources to monitor and most government department fail to meet the expectations of kenyan people. Corruption has taken root in Kenya to the point that, even criminals can come and enter the country. Not long before, everyone was talking about immigration in Kenya. Because of corruption at The Kenyan Immigration headquarters, Kenyan passport have now become a tool for anyone and even criminals.

You will find Nigerians with Kenyan passports, Rwandans and Ugandans doing business in Kenya with passports and valid documents, Somalis with Passports and so on.

We have talked about Immigrations for long and the Government must set up a mechanism to close loopholes in National Identity Cards and Kenyan Passports. The immigration and other government agencies must work together to make Kenya a prosperous country.

I think My freind, Cabinet Minister G. Kajwang is reading this.

HULUGHO TOWN TEAMING WITH KENYA POLICE (ATPU)

Readers are advised to read the Amnesty International story on rendition going on in the Horn of Africa in which 19 Kenyan Muslims are also missing, alledgedly imprisoned in Ethiopia and some secret cells.

For a start, terrorism as you know has no border, no country, no religion, no nothing, Everyone's enemy is a terrorist.The Srilankan government calls freedom fighters, The Tamil, Terrorists.Nelson Mandela used to be called a terrorist and so on. Remember the IRA (Irish Republican Army)bombings of the 70's and 80's, Terror must never be tolerated.

Hulugho town, a remote Kenya-Somalia border town, neighbouring Garissa, has lately been
facing a James Bond drama, teeming with soldiers, police and members of the Anti-Terrorism Police Unit (ATPU) looking for one Fazul, alledged to be the principal target of a US raid on Ras Kamboni forest on the Somali side of the border last year.

The Kenyan security forces seem to be working on a 24 hour alert to apprehend Fazul, who keeps evading them time and time. While sorrounding Hulugho, at one time, The security forces thought they had finally smoked out Fazul Abdullah Muhammad, only to discover that his wife, Mariam Ali Muhammad was among a group of women who turned themselves claiming they are innocent.



The group included two other women, two men and eight children who had taken refuge in Kolbio village on the Kenyan side of the Kenya-Somalia border soon after US aircraft bombed the Al-Qa'idah base in Ras Kamboni on 7 January 2007.

Civilians living in the area were forced to flee after the raid, but Kenyan forces aided by US intelligence were on high alert, waiting to capture the escapees. The safest recourse for most residents of the village was to cross into Kenya. The Police operation was being done by deputy PPO, Mbijjiwe.


But the then Internal Security Minister John Michuki had ordered the porous Kenya-Somalia border closed and stationed soldiers from the 1st, 7th and 15th Kenya Rifles at the key entry points of Amuma , Liboi and Hulugho (all on Kenya-Somali border).


Security around the Hulugho police station, where members of the Langata-based 7th Kenya Rifles had pitched camp, was quickly beefed up, ATPU officers summoned a helicopter from Garissa and members of the public were kept at bay.

A team was organized to meet the group of the escapees but because the police expected to find masterminds of the Al-Qaeda, the team was very surprised to find Fazul's wife and his eight children aged from eight months to 12 years.

The two other women were identified as Sofia Abdinassir, 20, and Mulki Abdinassir Omar, 21.
Although the raid did not result in the capture of Fazul, it did produce his wife and children.

At that time, although the police couldn't get or find out where Fazul was, ATPU officers bundled the group into a helicopter that flew them to Garissa where they were held for a few hours under tight security before being taken to Nairobi where police booked the men at the Gigiri police station while the women and children were taken to Karen police station.

Sources close to the ATPU say, Police found some telephone numbers and e-mails of people which they normally use to raid Nairobi's Eastleigh Estate and in Old Town, Mombasa. They said they further information from the laptops and the mobile phones found with the suspects that led to the arrest last year of wanted terrorism suspect Muhammad Abdulmalik. He has been transferred to the US prison facility at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba.


He is among the 19 Kenyans who were imprisoned by US intelligence agencies with the help of Kenyan police and who Amnesty International was reffering to.




Kenya Police Spokesman Eric Kiraithe would not say what ATPU officers found in the laptop and five phones. He says, "All I can tell you is that we are winning the war against terror," Mr Kiraithe said when interviewed on the telephone.









AMNESTY INTERNATIONAL STORY:

'Off the record' secret CIA detention

CIA
7 June 2007

At least 39 individuals who remain missing are believed to have been subjected to enforced disappearance by the US authorities. The wives and children of other detainees in secret CIA custody have also been held in custody and interrogated, either as potential sources of information or to secure the capture of their husband or father.


Based on research by six leading human rights groups - Amnesty International, Cageprisoners, the Center for Constitutional Rights, the Center for Human Rights and Global Justice and NYU School of Law, Human Rights Watch and Reprieve -, the briefing paper Off the Record provides the most comprehensive account of these 39 individuals' apprehension and detention to date, including four missing detainees here identified for the first time.

The full list includes cases of nationals from countries including Morocco, Libya, Egypt, Pakistan, Kenya and Spain. They were arrested in countries including Pakistan, Iraq, Iran, Somalia and Sudan, and transferred to secret sites run by the US government.


In many cases, the current fate and whereabouts of detainees included on the list are completely unknown. In other cases, some speculative information has emerged in the press or through research and investigation.


In all cases, the US government’s silence has created grave uncertainty. The US government must end the use of secret detention, clarify the fate and whereabouts of all people who have been secretly detained and allow them access to their families and to adequate legal process.The US has the duty to detain and bring to justice anyone responsible for crimes but it must do so in a manner that respects human rights and the rule of law.


Background

On 6 September 2006, President Bush finally admitted what had long been reported – that, in its "war on terror", the USA administration has been resorting to secret detentions and enforced disappearance, which is a crime under international law. The transfer of a detainee to Guantánamo in April 2007 proved that the US network of secret detention was still operating, though the authorities have never disclosed how many individuals have been secretly detained.

WHY DO INTELLIGENCE AGENCIES THINK THIS GUY IS ALIVE ?

Kenya Police for the first, even after ignoring our earlier request to help us track our 19 Kenyans and other muslims held in Ethiopia and in Guantanamo, in a rendition, secret cells, are showing a picture of a man they claim bombed The US Embassy in Kenya, in the 1998 twin bomb blast of Nairobi and Dar Es Salaam.


They have circulated two photographs believed to be latest images of East Africa’s most wanted terror suspect-Fazul Abdallah Mohammed. The photographs were obtained from two passports seized in the weekend raid in Malindi during which they claim Fazul narrowly escaped the police dragnet.

Three of his close associates, including a woman were suspiciously arrested during the raid and have since been arraigned in court. They include Ibrahim Mafouth Ashour and Mahfouth Ashour and Mahfouth’s wife Luftia. The two suspects said to be Fazul’s aides were arrested on Saturday night while mahfouth’s wife was arrested on Sunday. They were all charged with the offence of being an accessory to fifteen counts of murder by harboring Fazul who is the main suspect.

Mombasa Chief Magistrate Catherine Mwangi ordered that they be remanded in custody until Friday when the court will make a ruling on whether they should be released on bail after the prosecution opposed their release.

Anti-Terrorism Police Unit (ATPU) urged the court to give them time carry out further investigations.



It should be noted however that Kenyans have the habit of trying to associate bomb blast with Somalis, who form almost 3 million, a considerable number of the kenyan population as happened during last years City gate blast.


Police Spokesman Kiraithe, among the best spokesmen in Kenya so far, once rubbished up the idea once.

During the city gate blast, Police spokesman Eric Kiraithe said they had discounted upon recieving earlier reports that a group of Somali men near the scene of the blast - may have been involved.


"Three people of Somali origin, reported by eyewitness to have disembarked from a taxi near the scene moments before the explosion have been traced and interrogated by police. It has now been established that the three were Rwandese nationals, who were going about their private business in Nairobi." Kiraithe Said of that blast.

But Ask yourself, Why Somalis......

Now, The Police say they arrested the three people in relation with Fazul, who is alleged to be the chief architect of the twin 1998 bombings of the US Embassies in Nairobi and Dar es Salaam. At least 240 people were killed in the attacks.

They are now showing his passport as being from Garissa, a North Eastern town inhabited by Somalis. The new photographs released by police bore Fazul’s images which detectives said were obtained in Nairobi this February. Kiraithe said Fazul had been using the two passports in the names of Ali Mohamed Abubakar and Adan Hussein Ali

The 3 suspects are accused of harbouring Fazul even though they were aware that he was also involved in the 2002 bombing of the Israeli owned Paradise Hotel in Kikambala.

Lawyer Abubakar Yusuf who is acting for the three family members challenged the bid by the prosecution to detain his clients until Friday, arguing that it is a violation of their fundamental rights.

The suspects were taken to court under heavy guard by officers from the Anti-Terrorism Police Unit following their highly publicised weekend arrests. They were later taken to unknown destinations after the brief court appearance for further questioning.

Each passport bore different birth dates and places.