Kenyan anti-terror police raid home of British PR executive accusing him of al-Shabaab links
Wednesday, October 12, 2016
By Anna Dubuis
Outside of Tom James' home in Nairobi, Kenya. October 11, 2016. CREDIT: ANNA DUBUIS
Anti-terror police in Kenya have raided the home of a British PR executive who works on counter-terrorism projects, accusing him of recruiting for extremist group al-Shabaab.
Tom James, 32, was led away by police for questioning after Kenyan
officers swooped on his home in Nairobi on Tuesday afternoon.
The University of Leeds graduate works for international
communications agency M&C Saatchi and is based in Nairobi.
He has worked on counter-terrorism projects in Somalia, where
jihadist group al-Shabaab is based, including a radio campaign targeting young
people with anti-extremist messages.
Police allegedly found al-Shabaab literature and books during the
raid, which began when a team of officers wielding AK47s knocked on his front
door at 10.30am with a warrant.
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Mr James was inside his
home with two women of Somali origin who are believed to be his friends.
Up to 20 plain-clothed police officers then searched the house for
four hours.
Officers were seen carrying a number of framed maps and large
white boards with notes written on them out of the house and placing them
inside a car.
Mr James, wearing tan chinos and a blue shirt, was seen walking
barefoot around the driveway of the house looking dazed.
Police prevented him from coming down to the front gate to speak
to friends waiting outside.
A convoy of cars eventually left the property later in the
afternoon with Mr James sat inside a Land Cruiser with blacked out windows.
He was taken to the Kenya Police Criminal Investigation Department
for questioning.
An officer involved in the investigation said Mr James had not
been arrested but was “helping us with some things”.
Mr James, who speaks some Arabic and Swahili, previously worked in
London as an events organiser for The Economist.
Before that he worked as an English teacher in Syria while
learning Arabic at Damascus University.
He has also worked as a freelance journalist across Syria, Lebanon
and Iraq.
M&C Saatchi conducts activities in Somalia known as
psychological operations, or "psyops" which are campaigns to convey
particular messages to people to influence their behaviour.
The agency is also involved in Operation Atalanta, also known as
EU NAVFOR, a counter-piracy military operation at sea off the Horn of Africa.
M&C Saatchi, which was launched in 1995 by brothers Maurice
and Charles Saatchi, did not respond to requests for comment.
A spokesperson for the Foreign and Commonwealth Office said: “We
are urgently seeking information from Kenyan authorities following reports that
a British national has been detained in Nairobi.”
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