Murder suspect had been held in Kenya
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Michael Adebolajo (center), one of the main suspects in the brutal murder of a soldier in London, was among the nine suspected members of the Al-Shabaab Movement arrested more than two year ago by Kenyan police. Michael Richards / AFP |
One of the main suspects in the brutal murder of a soldier in London was arrested in Kenya more than two years ago for seeking terror training, it emerged on Sunday, after police made more arrests.
In Britain, Michael Adebolajo was pictured on the front page of several newspapers in the dock of a Kenyan court after he was arrested in 2010.
He was detained on the island of Pate, a few kilometers away from Lamu, which is a crossing point to Somalia, according to the Sunday Telegraph and Independent on Sunday.
The reports said Adebolajo, 28, had been accused of trying to lead a group of youths trying to join Somalia's al-Qaida-linked Shebab movement.
He was released and deported to Britain after appearing in court in Mombasa with six other men in November 2010.
The disclosure raises fresh questions about the monitoring of Adebolajo and the other suspect in the murder, 22-year-old Michael Adebowale, by Britain's intelligence services.
Adebolajo was captured on video carrying bloodied knives and a meat cleaver after Wednesday's attack saying he had killed off-duty soldier Lee Rigby because British troops were killing Muslims.
He and Adebowale remain under armed guard in stable condition in separate hospitals after they were shot by police at the scene. They are not yet strong enough to be questioned by detectives.
It also emerged that Adebowale was arrested in London two months ago after local traders complained about a group of Muslim activists.
In Britain, armed police arrested three more men on Saturday on suspicion of conspiracy to murder.
Two men aged 28 and 24 were arrested at a home in southeast London. Police used a Taser electric stun gun on the older suspect and on a 21-year-old man they arrested in a street not far from the murder scene.
Officers also searched four properties in London.
Both the suspects in the murder are Muslim converts from Nigerian Christian families, raising concerns in Britain about the radicalization of young men.
Home Secretary Theresa May, the interior minister, warned there were "potentially" thousands of people at risk of being radicalized as she indicated plans for a fresh crackdown on extremist groups.
(China Daily 05/27/2013 page11)
