Al-Shabaab terror suspect deported to UK after serving jail term in Kenya

NAIROBI, Kenya - An alleged Al-Shabaab operative was deported to the United Kingdom (UK) after serving a jail term in Kenya, in one of the most dramatic incidents in the history of the East African nation, which has been fighting violent extremism for over a decade.

Jermaine Grant, 41, was immediately arrested on Thursday in London moments after landing from Kenya, having served over 13 years in jail after being convicted by local courts. He was jailed in 2011 in the coastal city of Mombasa.

At that time, he was found in possession of bomb-making equipment which was discovered in his flat in Mombasa, a Kenyan coastal city.
Grant is thought to have shared the flat with Samantha Lewthwaite, who is dubbed the "White Widow" and is wanted in connection with London's 7/7 bombings, BBC reports.

After he was arrested in 2011, Kenyan police accused Grant of plotting to bomb tourist hotels on the country's coast. In 2019, a court acquitted him of conspiracy over the alleged plot but convicted him of possessing bomb-making materials.

Yesterday (Friday), the UK's Metropolitan Police confirmed that Grant had been detained in London under the Terrorism Act.
“We can confirm that on 8 August, officers from the Met Police arrested [a] 41-year-old man who was wanted on recall to prison concerning breaching license conditions linked to a previous conviction.

“He was arrested at Heathrow airport as he arrived back in the UK on a flight from Kenya. The man’s license conditions were revoked in August 2005 following the initial breach," the force said in a statement.

Grant was also arrested on suspicion of being a member of al-Shabab, an Islamist militant group, the Met Police said. He remains in police custody, the force added.

Since 2011, Ms Lewthwaite has not been seen since 2011 and is wanted by police in both Kenya and the UK. She was nicknamed the "White Widow" following her marriage to London suicide bomber Germaine Lindsay.

The Muslim convert, who spent her childhood in Aylesbury, Buckinghamshire, remains one of Kenya's most-wanted fugitives. She is suspected of having links to al-Shabab, a Somalia-based militant group, and a string of attacks, BBC adds.

Grant is believed to have become radicalized after spending time in prison with Richard Reid, a well-known extremist known as the "shoe bomber". Reid is serving a life sentence in the US following a failed plot to blow up a transatlantic flight with explosives in his shoe.

GAROWE ONLINE