Kenya on hunt for a German terror suspect

Kenyan police launched a major manhunt on Saturday for German citizen believed to use alias names Andreas Martin Muller and Abu Nusaibah.

The man is suspected to have deep connections with terror group Al-Shabaab and also to be in possession of information on planned Al-Shabaab attacks on Kenya..

The suspect is believed to have entered Kenya illegally.

Deputy police spokesperson Julius Owino on Saturday urged the German national to report to the nearest police station from where he would be handed over to the Anti-Terrorism Police Unit. “Any person who knows the whereabouts of the said Mueller is requested to give this information to the nearest police officer, security officer or police station," Mr Owino said, according to Kenyan media.

Kenyan Police Commissioner Mathew Iteere said in a statement released on Saturday, and quoted by the Chinese news agency Xinuaa:

"The Kenya Police has cause to believe that this person could be in possession of information on planned Al-Shabaab criminal activities,"

"Kenya Police would wish to inform the public that one person going by the name Ahmed Khaled Mueller, a German national is believed to have entered the country either illegally or by disguising himself and the nature of his mission in Kenya,"

"Any person who knows the whereabouts of the said Mueller is requested to give this information to the nearest police officer, security officer or police station,"

"The public is also warned that this person is possibly armed. Mueller is also believed to use alias names Andreas Martin Muller and Abu Nusaibah".

The Kenyan police also released the photo of the suspected German citizen.

More than 30 people have been killed in Kenya, mostly in northern region, by terror attacks attributed to Al-Shabaab, after Kenya sent its troops into Somalia in October 2011 in response to a series of murders and kidnapping on the Kenya soil by Al-Shabaab.

The Kenyan police have particularly warned against the laxity in the screening of cars for explosives at all shopping malls and any business or social gatherings with at least 10 people at any given moment that these might be vulnerable to attacks, according to Xinua.

At least three European citizens are either wanted or trial in Kenya since last January.

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* Compiled from reports by the Kenyan outlet The Nation and by Chinese news agency Xinuaa via Crienglish.

Check the Kenya archive or the Somalia archive or the terrorism archive for related posts.