Man wanted for terrorism once exiled to Somalia

It has now emerged that terror suspect Kassim Musa Mwarusi, who is among those wanted by police, was once deported from Kenya to Somalia.

 Mwarusi had been arrested in December 22, 2008 at the Kenya-Somalia border alongside nine other suspected terrorists, his younger brother Ali Musa Mwarusi, Salim Awadh Salim, Saidi Hamisi Mohamed, Bashir Hussein Chirag Mohamed Sader, Hassan Shabani Mwazume, Swaleh Ali Tunza and Abdallah Halfan Tondwe.

The whereabouts of his younger brother Ali Musa remain unknown.  In 2007, the suspects were taken to Somalia and thereafter to Ethiopia.

Renditioned 

According to court documents, Mwarusi claimed that the suspects were all ‘renditioned’ without the due process as no extradition or deportation process was done as by law.

Mwarusi in a sworn affidavit told then High Court Judge Mumbi Ngugi, they were interrogated in a centre run by the Federal Bureau of Investigations (FBI) where they were tortured.

Police have now revealed Mwarusi began his criminal activities in 2005 in Somalia and was on police radar and at the time of his arrest in 2008, he had managed to cross over to Kenya through the Indian Ocean.

According to court documents, assistant commissioner of police and head of the Anti-Terrorism Police Unit (ATPU) Nicholas Kamwende he was involved in the operation that led to the apprehension of Mwasuri alongside nine others.

Kenya forces had accused the terrorists of being members of Al Qaeda and they were interrogated by British and Israeli officers who also accused them of going to Somalia to assist the Islamic Court Union (ICU).