Monday, September 12, 2011

Somali Gunmen Attack British Tourists in Kenya

By JEFFREY GETTLEMAN

A boatload of Somali gunmen attacked an exclusive beach resort in Kenya on Sunday, killing a British tourist and kidnapping his wife before racing back into Somalia, Western diplomats said.

American officials were initially concerned that the strike might have been connected to the 10th anniversary of the Sept. 11 attacks and that the gunmen were Islamist militants looking for Americans. But Western diplomats were leaning away from that theory on Sunday night, though they said they were still uncertain about the motive for the attack.

The resort, Kiwayu Safari Village, is just south of the Somali border and is one of the most expensive destinations in Kenya, where guests stay in $1,300-a-night bungalows at the water’s edge and are summoned to feasts at night by the trumpeting of a conch shell. Prince William and Mick Jagger are said to have vacationed there.

The gunmen attacked under the cover of darkness, zooming up to the beach in a skiff shortly after midnight, the Western diplomats said.

It was not clear how the British tourist was killed, but officials said the gunmen sped away with the dead man’s wife, heading toward Ras Kamboni, Somalia, a well-known hide-out for Islamist militants.

Kenyan police officials said that the couple were the resort’s only guests at the time, The Associated Press reported.

British officials issued a short statement confirming the attack and warning against all but essential travel within 19 miles of the Somali border.

The island of Lamu, just south of Kiwayu, is a popular vacation spot, though the area north of it is considered dangerous, and the United States government has warned Americans to stay away. Somali gunmen attacked Kiwayu Safari Village and robbed guests several years ago, and security is clearly a concern at the resort, which has a special tab on its home page labeled “Security” underneath a motto that says: “The only rule here is to relax.”

Western diplomats said Sunday that they were investigating whether the raid was politically motivated or the work of an anti-Western group like the Shabab, an Islamist militia that has pledged allegiance to Al Qaeda and recently threatened to step up attacks inside Kenya. Or possibly, the diplomats said, the attackers simply wanted money and focused on the resort because it is known for its well-heeled clientele.

Some analysts in Somalia said the attackers may have been part of a pirate gang. Somali pirates have hijacked dozens of ships in recent years and held their crews for multimillion-dollar ransoms.

Somali gunmen have also kidnapped several Westerners on land in recent years, including from Kenya. Most have been released for ransom, though some, like a French secret service agent, have been held in captivity for years. Western diplomats said Sunday that the British government was asking the Kenyan military to send surveillance planes to Kiwayu and Ras Kamboni, but it was most likely that the attackers had escaped and melted into the area’s thick forest.

The part of southern Somalia that borders Kenya has become a war zone, as the Shabab have battled clan militias that are loosely affiliated with Somalia’s transitional government and armed by Ethiopia and Kenya. On Sunday, Shabab fighters attacked the town of El Waq, killing several clan militia fighters before seizing control. Residents said the clan militias quickly disappeared, possibly fleeing back into Kenya.

Mohammed Ibrahim contributed reporting from Mogadishu, Somalia.

Source: The New York Times

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