 (SomaliNet) Two Somali deputy ministers who entered the east African nation unlawfully have been detained by Kenyan authorities. This was confirmed by KenyaÂ’s Police spokesman Gideon Kibunjah, Xinhua reported Friday. Gideon confirmed that Abdiqasi Maalim Hassan, who is an assistant minister in the Ministry of Telecommunication, and his Agriculture counterpart Ismail Abdi Mohammed, are being held in Mandera, northern Kenya, for flouting immigration laws. "The two who were arrested while traveling to Nairobi at a police road block in Mandera town on Wednesday are being held by immigration officials," Kibunja said.
| The members of the TFG are drawn from the warlords, who were the primary participants in putting the TFG together, as well as the primary impediment to its operation... |
However, the two, Somali officials reportedly denied claims that they entered the country illegally, noting that they were on a mission to reconcile the warring clans at the Somalia/Kenya border. "We entered Kenya through Wilson Airport in Nairobi and proceeded to Elwak in Mandera to reconcile the Garre clan of Kenya and the Marihan clan of Somalia," Hassan reportedly said.
| "How were we to know that warlords were suddenly persona non grata?" |
The arrest comes barely a fortnight after a warlord from Somalia, behind the spate of violence in Mogadishu, was arrested in Nairobi and deported. |