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Kenya holds Germans, Dutch for
suspected terrorism
Sat 19 Jan 2008, 9:04 GMT
By Wangui Kanina
NAIROBI (Reuters) - Two German men and a Dutch woman who entered
Kenya as journalists have been arrested on suspicion of terrorism
after being found with photos of "vital installations", police
said on Friday.
"Although they entered the country as journalists they have been
conducting themselves in a suspicious manner," police spokesman
Eric Kiraithe told reporters.
"We are investigating materials recovered from them. Some of them
include photographs of vital installations," he added, without
giving further details.
"The suspects ... have been arrested with suspicion of terrorist
activities," Kiraithe said.
Kiraithe said the two Germans -- Gerd Uwe Hauth and Andrej Hermlin
-- and Fleur Van Dissel, a Dutch national, were arrested at Jomo
Kenyatta International Airport.
The German and Dutch foreign ministries confirmed the arrests. "The
embassy is in touch with local authorities to try to ensure they
are released quickly," a German foreign ministry spokesman said.
A spokeswoman for the Dutch foreign ministry said their embassy
had been in contact with Van Dissel to help her deal with the
Kenyan authorities.
She added that the Dutch ambassador had spoken to the Kenyan
foreign minister to ensure she would be treated well.
Hermlin, a musician known in Germany as "the king of swing," is
the son of well-known East German writer Stephan Hermlin. He is
married to a Kenyan woman.
Kiraithe said the three raised suspicions after they changed
vehicles four times on the trip from Nairobi to the airport.
But Salim Lone, spokesman for the opposition Orange Democratic
Movement (ODM), said Van Dissel had been making a documentary
about its leader Raila Odinga, which was aired on local television
a few days before a December 27 election.
"I am astounded to hear they have been arrested. I know Fleur has
been working on a documentary on Odinga for at least five years,
while Andrej Hermlin is a famous musician," Lone told Reuters.
He said Van Dissel was working on another documentary on Odinga, a
former political prisoner who accuses President Mwai Kibaki -- who
narrowly won the vote -- of stealing victory.
Hundreds of foreign reporters descended on Nairobi for the polls
and many more arrived after Kibaki's re-election triggered
political and ethnic violence killing around 650 people.
(Additional reporting by Madeline Chambers in Berlin)
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