Woolwich Killer Adebolajo 'A Hero' In Kenya

An alleged al Shabaab recruit praises Michael Adebolajo and says foreign policy makes British soldiers legitimate targets.

The young man, who we believe is an al Shabaab recruit, glared at me.

"If it wasn't for the cleric being here with us, I would cut off your head," he said.

His view is not unusual among his particular Muslim group in the Kenyan coastal town of Mombasa.

Michael Adebolajo was found guilty of murdering soldier Lee Rigby

Here, Michael Adebolajo is considered a hero, while British soldiers and even, in some quarters, British people, are considered justifiable targets because of what is perceived to be the British Government's aggressive involvement in Islamic countries like Pakistan, Afghanistan and Iraq.

It is the same terror network which British intelligence believes Adebolajo plugged into when he set off from south London to try to join the al Shabaab fighting brigade in Somalia in 2010.

It is the same network and the same people which the British woman Samantha Lewthwaite, also known as the White Widow, connected with and moved amongst. Lewthwaite is being hunted by Interpol in connection with a string of terror incidents in Kenya.

Influential Muslim leader Makaburi says Britain is "at war" with Islam

The cleric he is referring to tells me he isn't a cleric, although everyone else says he is.

He is undoubtedly an influential leader and he has delivered several speeches inside a number of mosques. He is known by most people in Kenya as Makaburi, meaning grave in Swahili, although his real name is Abubaker Shariff Ahmed.

He is named by the United Nations as a recruiter and facilitator of al Shabaab. His response to that accusation when I put it to him is always: "Let them prove it. There is no proof whatsoever I even know anyone from al Shabaab."

His views, and those of the young men who dote on his words, are astonishingly similar to the 'defence' put up in court by Adebolajo: that he, and others like him, are soldiers of Allah, fighting a Holy war.

Sky's Alex Crawford meets the alleged al Shabaab recruit

So the young man in front of us tells us with absolute conviction: "Britain is killing Muslims all over the world - in Iraq, in Afghanistan, in Pakistan. We are just defending ourselves. Adebolajo is a hero and he will receive glory from Allah."

And in Kenya, a significant number of Muslims feel persecuted and vulnerable.

They are the ones who are bitterly opposed to Kenya's military involvement across the border in Somalia, where soldiers are trying to stop the flood of al Shabaab recruits from crossing the border.

Police chief Samuel Obara says border security is an international problem

They believe Britain's support of that action - in words as well as in deeds through their training of Kenyan troops - justifies attacks against British soldiers, British targets, British interests. 

 

Al Shabaab's claim that it carried out the attack on the Westgate shopping centre in Nairobi in September which killed nearly 70 people has made some Muslims in Kenya only feel more at risk and hunted.

It has resulted in much more intensive attention on the activities on the coast in Mombasa and further afield in Lamu County - the favoured route for radicalised youths to travel through to Somalia.

The residents of Faza island on the Lamu archipelago where Adebolajo stayed when he was trying to reach Somalia were very reluctant to talk to us. The few who did spoke in no uncertain terms about how virulently against al Shabaab they are.

The island is very much off the tourist trail. It is undeveloped and remote. A perfect cover for those who want to disappear under the authorities' radar and make their way to Somalia. It seems inconceivable that a young man from south London would be able to get around without some help and guidance.

The route from Lamu County into Somalia is favoured by radicalised youths

Senior Supt Samuel Obara, the head of Lamu East Border Police, told Sky News the border - part water and part land - is porous and difficult to monitor.

"We need international help," he said. "This is an international problem and we need other countries to help us."

He went onto say many of the border villages and towns were now 'cleansed' of al Shabaab.

"You can walk around here safely now," he said.

But he admits it is still being used as a route by extremists wanting to reach al Shabaab in Somalia, and British intelligence services believe there are several hundred Britons with links to the terror network.

Most have gone on to fight in Syria but there are concerns about those who may return to Britain, like Adebolajo, to carry out attacks on home territory.

SKYNEWS

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