By The Voice
Interpol names Samantha Lewthwaite as wanted person after suspected involvement in Kenya terror attack
FAMILY TERROR: Samantha Lewthwaite and husband Germaine Lindsay before he blew himself up in the London 7/7 attacks killing over 20 on the London Underground.
KENYA’S DEADLY terror attack in a Nairobi shopping centre has resulted in international police issuing a wanted notice for Samantha Lewthwaite – the suspected terrorist known as the “white widow”.
Interpol put her on the wanted persons list at the request of the Kenyan government, which has sought her for several years.
Lewthwaite, 29, whose husband was suicide bomber Germaine Lindsay who killed over 20 people during the London 7/7 bombings in 2005, is an “unofficial” suspect in the four-day attack in the Kenyan capital’s Westgate Mall.
The terror attack, which started on September 21 and turned into a siege and hostage rescue mission, killed at least 67 people, with about 175 injured. The death toll is expected to rise in the coming days.
Somali militant group al-Shabab claimed responsibility for the act, saying it carried it out in reaction to Kenyan troops being stationed in southern Somalia.
In a statement, Interpol said: “Lewthwaite, aged 29, who is also believed to use the alias ‘Natalie Webb’, is wanted by Kenya on charges of being in possession of explosives and conspiracy to commit a felony dating back to December 2011.”
The Lyon-based organisation’s secretary general Ronald Noble said: “By requesting an Interpol Red Notice, Kenya has activated a global ‘tripwire’ for this fugitive.
“Kenyan authorities have ensured that all 190 member countries are aware of the danger posed by this woman, not just across the region but also worldwide.”
The global body did not link Lewthwaite to the Westgate Mall attack, but there is mounting speculation that she played a part in the bloody attack that killed a multitude of different nationalities.
Kenyan authorities are currently piecing together forensic evidence from the scene, as international experts have arrived in the country to assist with the investigation to track down those responsible.
Using Twitter, al-Shabab claimed it held 137 hostages and that many died after security forces breached the complex firing chemical agents – a claim the Kenyan authorities have rejected and dismissed as militant propaganda.
The terrorist group, which has links to al-Qaeda, is aiming to establish an Islamic state in Somalia, but Kenya has sent about 4,000 troops to southern Somalia in support of an African Union force combating militants in the region. – The Voice
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