Kenya accused of plotting cleric's 'rendition' 07 Jan 10

  • 12 years ago
Rights activists say Kenyan authorities, whom they believe are holding a controversial Muslim cleric, plan to send him to an unknown country in what they say amounts to "rendition".

Kenyan officials had earlier said the cleric, Sheik Abdullah el-Faisal, had already been expelled but activists believe he continues to be held at Nairobi's international airport because several other countries have refused to grant him a transit visa.

An immigration ministry spokesperson said a deportation order had been signed but refused to name the destination.

El-Faisal, who in the 1990s preached at the same London mosque attended by Richard Reid - the convicted "shoe bomber" who failed to blow up a jet liner in 2001 - was previously jailed in Britain for inciting murder and racial hatred.

Al Jazeera's Andrew Simmons reports from Nairobi.