December 31, 2021
Kenya’s security agencies have linked Iranian citizen Mohammed Saeid Golabi to terror activities in Kenya, the third time in the last decade Kenya has tabbed Iran for terrorist plotting in the African country.
Golabi, who is believed to visit Kenya and the region frequently, is reportedly at the core of terror plans targeting both local and Israeli interests in Kenya.
The Star of Nairobi quoted police sources as telling it they have been monitoring Golabi’s terror activities and some of his local associates and are convinced there is a link between him and terrorism activities.
“We have profiled him and his contacts over time. We have enough reason to believe that he has been working with those terror groups,” said a senior official at the Anti-Terrorism Police Unit.
Golabi is suspected to be an Iranian intelligence officer working with a team of Kenyans to gather intelligence against establishments both private and state owned with the aim attacking them.
The Star said Golabi, who is married to a Kenyan citizen, was detained for questioning, but subsequently released with no charges yet filed against him.
This isn’t the first time Kenyan authorities have linked would-be attacks to Iran.
In 2012, two Iranians believed to be Qods Force agents were charged with preparation to commit a felony and possession of explosives without a license. The pair led security officials to 15 kilos of RDX explosives hidden at a golf club in Mombasa.
The pair, Ahmad Abolfathi Mohammed and Sayed Mansour Mousavi, both denied the charges, said they were wrongly accused and alleged that police had tortured them, according to court transcripts. They were convicted and are currently serving 15-year prison terms.
Then in 2015, Kenyan security agencies arrested two Kenyans with alleged links to Iran, claiming that both men admitted plotting attacks on Western targets. Abubakar Sadiq Louw, 69, and Yassin Sambai Juma, 25, were accused of terrorism and espionage on behalf of Iranian state intelligence.
The pair “admitted to conspiring to mount terror attacks,” with the government asserting that the men’s targets “included hotels in Nairobi frequently used by Western tourists, businessmen and diplomats.”
The pair was charged five years ago, but the Iran Times could find no record of a trial yet.
Described as a senior figure in the Shiite Muslim community in the capital of Nairobi, Louw was working on behalf of the Qods Force, the agencies said. Juma was allegedly one of the students Louw recruited.