22/04/07 (B392-A) BBC – La Police du Kenya libère un journaliste britannique. (En Anglais – info lectrice) Kenya police free UK journalist

The pair were released after the British High Commissioner, Adam Wood, became
involved.

They were making a film for Channel 4’s Dispatches programme about the arrests
of Islamists in Kenya.

High alert

Mr Edge and Ms Safarico were taken to two separate police stations at 0800
on Friday (0600 BST) after they filmed outside a police station in the capital
of the East African nation.

A spokeswoman for Channel 4 said they pair had been released after being interviewed
as terror suspects. She said they were both in good health and no further
action will be taken against them.

Mr Edge will now fly to Ethiopia to continue filming as originally
planned.

The spokeswoman said they held all the required filming permits and had earlier
interviewed a government minister.

‘Surprised’ at arrests

Speaking before they were released, Dispatches editor Kevin Sutcliffe said:
« I am surprised at this turn of events given that earlier in the day
the crew had been conducting an interview with the Kenyan foreign minister
as part of their film. »

They were making a documentary about the secret detention of scores of men,
women and children in Somalia and Ethiopia following a major push to flush
out Islamist extremists in neighbouring Somalia earlier this year.

BBC East Africa correspondent Karen Allen said Kenya has been on high alert
since a major swoop at the beginning of the year to track down what are believed
to be Al-Qaeda operatives fleeing from war-torn Somalia.