Kenya vows to step up war against terrorism

The Kenyan government has vowed it would step up its counter terrorism measures in the country.

Internal Security Permanent Secretary Francis Kimemia said Kenya has intensified the war against terrorism in the country, stressing that no particular community was being targeted in the war against the vice.

"We have intensified a crackdown on terrorism and the borders are well secured. Our officers are out there to make the country safe," Kimemia told journalists after attending a regional forum in Nairobi.

His comments came after a series of arrests of foreign nationals on suspicion of terrorism. Since last week, the security forces in the country have arrested about nine foreigners over terror links.

The Kenya Somali border is particularly porous and the existence of insurgent groups with suspected links to al Qaida, poses a potential security risk to the country.

Kimemia vowed that the countrywide crackdown against terrorism will continue, and he, however, denied there is an influx of terrorists in the country.

"It is not true that there is an influx of terrorists in the country. There have been isolated cases where refugees enter the country and they are profiled like what happened in Dobley (Kenya- Somalia border) and there is no influx at all," he said.

Last week, the Kenyan police freed an Australian terrorism suspect mistakenly believing he was just an illegal immigrant. .

Spokesman Eric Kiraithe has said Hussein Hashi Farah was handed to ordinary police at Busia, at the border between Kenya and Uganda rather than specialist officers because of "an oversight".

Farah apparently then reassured police he would appear in court for an immigration hearing, and was set free.He is wanted for allegedly planning an attack in Australia in 2009.

A group of ethnic Somalis were arrested in Melbourne last year amid reports they had links to the Islamist rebel group al-Shabaab and were planning attacks in Australia.

Kimemia also appealed to the international community to assist Kenya in the prosecution of suspected Somali pirates, saying there should be a shared responsibility in trying and investigating piracy-related cases."The arrangement is that all countries should support each other in trying these pirates. Kenya cannot be the only nation that tries all pirates whenever you get them," he said.Kimemia said the government is increasingly concerned at the large number of piracy-related cases being referred to Kenya.

"We share that responsibility with the international community so those ones can be tried elsewhere in other countries within or beyond the region."

He was speaking in response to last week's refusal by the police in Mombasa to accept three suspected Somali pirates and a fourth dead person that arrived at the port aboard an Italian warship.

The developments came just a month after the US State Department apparently issued a fresh advisory against travel to Kenya, citing a new threat from Somalia's Al-Shabaab group which has ties with al Qaida network.

Washington said that it was aware that individuals linked to Al- Shabaab al-Islamiya were planning suicide bombing attacks on the U. S. Embassy and the Kenyatta International Conference Centre (KICC), a key building in Nairobi.

The US State Department said the individuals were targeting the KICC because it was deemed the largest and oldest building associated with the Kenyan government.

The U..S Embassy was targeted for its support of the Kenyan government.

Security fears in Kenya are particularly worrying following the post-election violence in 2008 that killed some 1,300 people.

Given the regional threat from Somali al Shabaab extremists seen as a proxy for al Qaida, it is even more concerning for a nation that has in the past been hit by two al Qaida-linked attacks.