Briton charged in Kenya for planning bomb attack

Mombasa - Four people, including a Briton, were charged on Thursday with possessing bomb-making materials which they were accused of planning to use in an attack in Kenya in late December, a charge sheet from a court in the coastal city of Mombasa showed. The four - Briton Jermain John Grant and Kenyans Fouad Abubakar Manswab, Warda Breik Islam and Frank Ngala - appeared before Mombasa Law Courts chief Magistrate Lillian Mutende.

A charge sheet made available from the Mombasa Law Court showed they were charged with being found in possession of bomb making material that included batteries, wire, ammonium nitrate, lead nitrate, acetone and hydrogen peroxide.

“On December 20... jointly with others not before the court, they conspired to improvise an explosive with intent to cause loss of human lives and harm to innocent citizens,” the charge sheet said.

Kenya increased security after sending troops into neighbouring Somalia last October to pursue Islamist al Shabaab rebels, whom it blames for a string of kidnappings and cross-border attacks, often targeting tourists.

Earlier this month Britain said it believed militants were completing plans to attack Kenyan institutions and places frequented by expatriates and tourists.

The four pleaded not guilty, and are due to return to the court on February 20 and 22.

State lawyer Jacob Ondari told Mutende that the case could not proceed because investigations were still incomplete.

“We cannot proceed because some exhibits to be used as evidence against the suspects are still in the Government Chemist for analysis,” Ondari told the court.

Grant is already serving a three-year sentence handed to him late last year for being in the country illegally.

Security forces have they had preempted attacks in Kenya over the holidays, through strikes inside Somalia and the killing of three heavily armed militants who were trying to land at Kiunga, near the border, from skiffs on New Year's Eve.

Since Kenyan forces moved into Somalia, at least 30 people, including several policemen, have been killed in attacks by suspected al Shabaab militants in the northeastern Kenyan districts of Wajir, Mandera and Garissa.

In the latest incident on Wednesday, seven people died when the rebels stormed a remote police camp in Gerille in northeastern Kenya. - Reuters