04/05/07 (B393-B) BBC / Le Kenya bénéficiaire de fonds anti-terroristes US. Kenya gets US anti-terror funds (En Anglais – Info lectrice)

The
US government has announced new funding to Kenya’s security forces aimed at
countering "terrorist activities" in the Horn of Africa.

The US administration will provide $14m-worth of training and equipment.

Kenya is a close US ally in the region – several terror suspects have been
arrested in Kenya and sent to Somalia or Ethiopia for questioning.

The US blames terror attacks in Kenya on al-Qaeda operatives it says have
been hiding in Somalia.

Last month, Kenyan Security Minister John Michuki held talks with US officials
in Washington on fighting terrorism.

Guantanamo Bay

A statement from the US embassy in Nairobi says some of the money will be
used to construct a maritime security camp, boost coastline patrols and set
up a cyber forensic laboratory.

The US government has been pushing Kenya to enact and anti-terrorism law and
boost its efforts to crack down on drug trafficking.

But a draft law which gives the security minister powers to declare an individual
or organisation a terrorist, was shelved by parliament after Muslim groups
said it violated the rights of Kenyans.

Last month, a Kenyan Abdulmalik Mohammed was moved to Guantanamo Bay camp
after he was handed over to the US following his arrest in the Kenyan port
city of Mombasa.

US officials say Mr Mohammed had confessed to having taken part in the 2002
attack on an Israeli-owned hotel near Mombasa.

But Islamic leaders accuse the government of working with the US to persecute
Muslims.

Some 250 people were killed in Nairobi in 1998 during simultaneous attacks
on US embassies in Kenya and Tanzania.

The US says Islamists who controlled much of southern Somalia last year were
sheltering al-Qaeda operatives, responsible for these and the 2002 Mombasa
attacks.

The Islamists have been driven from power, with the US and Ethiopia helping
Somali government troops.