Jamaican Muslim cleric accused of sneaking into Kenya

Tuesday, January 05, 2010

KENYA'S immigration minister has accused controversial Jamaican-born Muslim cleric Sheik Abdullah al-Faisal of entering Kenya in a manner to avoid detection as he was on a terrorist watch-list.

"He deliberately entered by road at a border point not linked to our computer system," Otieno Kajwang said, adding that immigration officers did not know at the time who al-Faisal was.

According to The Associated Press, Kajwang said that al-Faisal, who arrived in Kenya on December 24, will soon be deported to Jamaica.

"I have already signed his deportation letter and he will be deported back to his country at the earliest opportunity," said Kajwang. "The information we have is that he was arrested in Britain and jailed five years ago on terrorism-related charges. We are not deporting him because he is a Muslim.

"We are deporting him because of his terrorist history and the fact that he is on the international watch-list. We have no charges against him, but he took advantage of the situation at Lunga Lunga border to enter the country," Kajwang said.

On Sunday, Kenyan newspapers reported Kajwang as saying that al-Faisal -- who was previously jailed in Britain for soliciting the murder of Jews and Hindus -- would not have been allowed into Kenya had he entered through the country's major airports, Jomo Kenyatta International or Moi International in Mombasa or any other entry point linked to the e-border control system.

Kenyan newspapers also reported that the cleric was previously denied entry into Kenya and that before his arrival he had travelled to Nigeria, Angola, Mozambique, Swaziland, Malawi, and Tanzania.

He was arrested by anti-terror police on New Year's Day minutes after attending evening prayers at a mosque in the prestigious Nyali neighbourhood. Police accused him of violating the terms of his tourist visa by preaching in mosques.

In 2003, al-Faisal was sentenced to nine years in the UK after being convicted of incitement to murder and stirring racial hatred by urging followers to kill Hindus, Jews and Americans.

Al-Faisal had his sentence reduced to seven years on appeal and became eligible for parole after serving half his term. He was deported from Britain to Jamaica immediately upon his release in May 2007.

On Sunday, Kajwang dismissed allegations by the Muslim Human Rights Forum that Muslim clerics were being targeted. He said he had signed many work permits for Muslim clerics from Sudan and Libya who are in the country.

"This is curtailing Sheikh al-Faisal's freedoms of expression and association in a very discriminative manner and holding him incommunicado, which is totally unacceptable," said the group's chairman Al-Amin Kimathi.

Born Trevor William Forrest, al-Faisal, who is from St James, left Jamaica for the UK 26 years ago. His parents were Salvation Army officers and he was raised as a Christian, but when he was aged 16, he went to Saudi Arabia where he became a Muslim and spent eight years studying Islam at Madina University.

Later, he took a degree in Islamic Studies in the Saudi capital Riyadh before going to the UK.

The controversial cleric had, by Sunday, been flown to Nairobi for further interrogation by the Anti-Terrorism Police Unit. The detectives picked him up at Port Police Station and moved him under tight security to Moi International Airport where he boarded an evening flight to Nairobi.

Coast provincial police boss Leo Nyongesa confirmed that the cleric was taken to the Anti-Terrorism Police headquarters for further interrogation.