News Detail
US warns of imminent attack in Mombasa, Kenya
NAIROBI: The US embassy in Kenya on Saturday warned of the threat of an imminent attack on Mombasa and urged nationals to shun the country's second city.
"This is to alert all US citizens in Kenya, or planning to travel to Kenya in the near future, that the US Embassy in Nairobi has received information of an imminent threat of a terrorist attack in Mombasa, Kenya," a statement said.
"All US government travel to Mombasa is suspended until July 1, 2012."
The warning came as Kenyan police said they had detained two Iranian nationals over suspected links to a terror network planning bombings in Nairobi and Mombasa.
"We are holding these two suspects, and they are being interrogated to establish their involvement in terrorism activities," said Aggrey Adoli, police chief for Coast province.
"They have been helpful, it is through them that we were able to find some chemicals which we believe is used to make explosives," he told AFP.
One was arrested in Nairobi and the other in Mombasa.
Kenya, which invaded southern Somalia last October to help oust Al-Qaeda linked Shebab insurgents, has seen a wave of attacks blamed on the Shebab or their supporters recently.
In 1998 a series of truck bomb explosions in Nairobi and Dar-es-Salaam in Tanzania killed hundreds of people. The date marked the eighth anniversary of the arrival of US troops in Saudi Arabia.
Malaysia summons Singapore envoy after poll rally
KUALA LUMPUR: Malaysia has summoned Singapore's high commissioner over the alleged participation of three of the city-state's diplomats in a mass rally for electoral reform.
Malaysian Foreign Minister Anifah Aman said he summoned Ong Keng Yong Friday to explain that "the direct participation of diplomats in the illegal rally is an inappropriate move".
"I also stressed to Ong Keng Yong that the Ministry of Foreign Affairs would not hesitate to take stronger diplomatic actions against diplomats who are found to have stepped beyond the diplomatic norms," he said in a statement late Friday.
Tens of thousands rallied in the capital Kuala Lumpur on April 28 to call for electoral reforms, including a clean-up of the voter roll. Protesters clashed with police, who used tear gas and water cannon, and more than 500 people were arrested.
The Singapore High Commission denied that the diplomats participated in the rally, saying they attended as observers as part of their "diplomatic duties".
"The Singapore government does not interfere in any country's political processes," it said in a letter to Malay-language daily Utusan Malaysia published on its website.
Polls, expected to be fiercely contested, are due in the first half of next year, but Prime Minister Najib Razak is widely expected to call for elections before that.
Opposition leaders and activists say the electoral system is marred by irregularities and favours Najib's coalition, which has ruled the country since independence in 1957.
Malaysia and Singapore -- two former British colonies that separated in 1965 after a troubled union -- have had close ties in recent years and worked on resolving long-standing issues, such as land disputes.
Highlights
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Clippings
Iran and blame the victim game
Tehran is continuously interfering in Afghanistan and pressurizing Kabul under one pretext or the other. Iran’s meddling into our internal affairs while giving it name of concern as Tehran did it recently when its ambassa...
