Whereabouts of British terror convict unclear as jail term ends

Terror suspect Jermaine Grant confers with his lawyer Chacha Mwita during the hearing of his case where he is facing terrorism charges at Shanzu Law Courts in Mombasa County on February 17, 2015. [File, Standard] Convicted terrorist Jermain Grant's whereabouts remained unclear after the British High Commission denied reports by Kenyan authorities that it had handed him over. Grant, an accomplice of the most wanted British fugitive linked to multiple terror attacks in Lamu Samantha Lewthwaite (also known as the White Widow), completed his nine-year jail term yesterday. He was in 2011 charged for plotting to bomb a beach hotel frequented by British and American tourists and forging Kenyan citizenship. In July last year, Justice Anne Onginjo directed the government to repatriate Grant to the UK upon completion of his jail term at the Kamiti Maximum Prison. But yesterday, the UK High Commission in Kenya said the convict was still under the Kenyan authorities. "Kenyan authorities can speak about the repatriation of Jermain Grant. He is still detained in the country," said a top official who sought annoynimity. Prison authorities said Grant had been handed over to Immigration officials to arrange for his repatriation after he was declared an unwanted immigrant. Grant's lawyer Mwita Chacha, who did not oppose the decision by the court, did not pick up phone calls or reply to text messages. A source confided to The Standard that Grant was to be escorted to the Jomo Kenyatta International Airport by anti-terror police and Immigration officials as he was a dangerous man. "Grant's air ticket and the police officers who were to escort him to the UK were purchased," said a senior Prisons officer. Sources in the anti-terror police unit said would be handed over to the British counter-terrorism officers. But as we went to press, it was not clear if he was still at the airport or Kamiti. Grant was arrested along with Faud Abubakar on a motorcycle. At his residence in Kishada in Kisauni, Mombasa, police found Lewthwaite in another room of the same apartment with her children. It is still unclear how Lewthwaite escaped arrest. The police also found Warda Ismail Brek in Grant's room, who introduced herself as his wife. During the search of the house, the police found chemicals and other materials for making a bomb. After his arrest, Grant first disguised himself as Joseph, a Canadian, but later opened up to detectives at the Makupa Police Station. "Grant revealed his British nationality after being served with a special meal of fried chicken and potatoes in the Kenyan police custody during his questioning," said a detective who offered Grant a soft drink at the station. A British detective testified that the chemicals could make a bomb capable of bringing down a storey house. He was charged along with Abubakar, Brek and Frank Ngala, a taxi driver who had communicated with him on December 20, 2011. Brek and Ngala were acquitted after the prosecution failed to link them to the offence. Abubakar is said to have absconded bond and fled to Somalia. Grant was charged with nine counts. In 2015, Justice Martin Muya quashed the lower court's decision of acquitting him of the nine charges and sentenced him to one year each for each charge, which ran consecutively. The police have linked him to Samantha, who was married to Germaine Lindsey, one of the four suicide bombers who carried out a suicide attack on a train in London on July 7, 2005, which left 26 passengers dead. He has previously served a two-year term for illegal entry into the country and was acquitted of a robbery charge about 10 years ago in a Nairobi court. In June, 2009, Islamist militants from Somalia raided the Dadajabulla Police Post in Wajir and attempted to rescue him.

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