ReggaeMe - Nairobi I, Kenya — A Jamaican-born radical Muslim cleric
who once led a London mosque attended by convicted terrorists is
stuck in Kenya despite attempts to deport him because other nations
are refusing to allow him to transit through their countries, officials said
Tuesday.
Sheik Abdullah el-Faisal is being expelled from Kenya because of his
history of being involved in terrorist activities, Kenya's immigration minister
said. Britain has said that el-Faisal's teachings heavily influenced one of
the bombers who carried out the 2005 transport network bombings in London
that killed 52 people.
El-Faisal - who has called for Americans, Hindus and Jews to be killed -
travelled from Nigeria and through Angola, Malawi, Swaziland, Mozambique,
and Tanzania by road before coming to Kenya, said a Kenyan official who
spoke on condition of anonymity because he is not authorized to speak on
the issue.
South Africa and the U.K. have declined to grant him transit visas, the
official said. The visas would allow el-Faisal to connect to flights to Jamaica,
which has said it would accept him but would keep a close eye on him.
Tanzania also declined to grant him a visa - despite the fact he entered
Kenya from Tanzania.
In order for el-Faisal to fly to Jamaica he would need a transit visa to allow
him to connect to flights in the U.S., Europe or Canada, said Kennedy
Buhere, a spokesman for the Ministry of Immigration.
Source: Associated Press Writers Jill Lawless in London and Jon Gambrell in Nigeria