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Kenyan police nab two suspects spying for Iranian terror group

Xinhua, November 28, 2015 Adjust font size:

Kenyan police said Saturday they have arrested two Kenyans on suspicion of being part of an Iranian spying mission to mount terror attacks in the East African nation.

Inspector General of Police, Joseph Boinett said the two, Abubakar Sadiq Louw and Yassin Sambai Juma, have admitted to conspiring to mount terror attacks against Western targets in Kenya.

"We have in our possession irrefutable evidence that the two are part of an Iranian spy ring with terrorist-linked inclinations. We will not tolerate subversive activities on Kenyan soil and shall uproot foil intentions of such people," Boinett told journalists in Nairobi.

He said the two suspects were also on an undertaking to radicalize young Kenyans and foreigners alike into adopting extreme religious ideals and aspirations.

Boinett said the two suspects revealed during interrogation that they made a number of trips to Iran where they received money and were given addresses of targets to attack.

"The suspects travelled to Iran in October and met a Pasha where Juma was tutored in operational counter-guerilla techniques and instructed how to operate in Kenya and meet other handlers in the region," Boinett said.

Louw 69 is a senior figure in Nairobi Shiite Community. According to police sources, he was arrested on Oct. 29 after a long intensive police investigation. He admitted recruiting young Kenyans to spy and mount terror attacks in Nairobi.

Louw also said he was working on behalf of the Qods Force, the clandestine overseas military wing of Iran's Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC).

Louw also divulged to the investigators that he arranged for Juma, one of the students recruited by him, to travel to Iran, and introduced him to the Qods Force contact, nicknamed "Parsa".

"Parsa" subsequently gave Juma a set of tasks and Western targets for future terror attacks in Nairobi. Police arrested Juma on Nov. 19, upon his return to Nairobi after having undertaken some military training in Iraq.

Louw also admitted that he was approached by Iranian government officials in 2012 to serve the country's military intelligence organization. He was tasked then to identify suitable Kenyan students aged 20-30, who would become spies and carry out attacks on Western interests in Kenya. Endit