Kenya protests to US over terror warning

MOMBASA, Kenya - Kenya said on Sunday it has angrily protested at the decision by US government to issue a travel alert which warned its citizens not to travel to the coastal city of Mombasa for fear of terror attack, terming it an act of economic sabotage.

Acting Head of Public Service Francis Kimemia and Tourism Minister Dan Mwazo also confirmed the Kenyan government has written to the US embassy in Nairobi over the matter demanding that the travel ban be lifted.

"The travel ban is reckless, and uncalled for. It's very alarming for US to issue such alarming statement without consulting the government of Kenya. We find this as an economic sabotage," Kimemia told journalists in the port city of Mombasa on Sunday.

Washington through its embassy in Nairobi warned its government officials in Mombasa to vacate or put on hold their plans to travel to the port city until July 1.

"US private citizens are not subject to the same restrictions but should consider this information in their travel planning. All US government travel to Mombasa is suspended until July 1, 2012, " said the statement released on Saturday.

"This is to alert all US citizens in Kenya, or planning to travel to Kenya in the near future," the American embassy said in its third alert this year of imminent threats of terror attacks.

Mombasa, the country's second largest city and a major tourist spot, is one of various cities targeted by a series of grenade attacks and abduction of foreigners in recent months.

France has also warned its citizens to be "extremely vigilant" in Mombasa. The warnings came as police are questioning two Iranians detained over suspected links to a terror network planning bombings in the east African nation's key cities.

Kimemia said the east African nation was playing a pivotal role in ensuring terrorism and other forms of criminal activities threatening the country's security were minimized if not eliminated.

"It's wrong for a country that Kenya is trying so much to protect its interests to issue such a statement," Kimemia protested.

"We wish to assure Kenyans and the entire world that Kenya is safe and that the government is working hard to eliminate terrorism acts in the region," he added.

He termed the ban as unfortunate and urged tourists to ignore it, saying it came at an unfortunate time despite efforts by Kenya to root out terrorism.

Speaking during the news conference, Mwazo confirmed that since the ban was issued, over 100 cancellations to the Kenyan coast had been reported, terming it a big blow to the tourism industry.

Mwazo added the cancellations were a big blow, and further said, "If the US government does not retract that statement, then it means that tourism which contributes close to 40 percent of the country's economy is going to be affected," he said.

"Further information indicates that many tourists who reserved flights to visit Kenya for holiday from Europe have cancelled and diverted to South Africa, Brazil, Tanzania and other countries where they feel safe," Mwazo said.

Kimemia also defended the country's spy agency, National Security Intelligence Service (NSIS), over claims of laxity saying they were competent and had a well elaborated capacity to monitor the security situation in the country, and added that Kenya's standards meet the international threshold.

Kenyan intelligence agency, which enjoys a huge country's budget, has received backlash from leaders for its inefficiency to detect terror attacks in country.

Kimemia said the spy unit has capacity as it meets international standard by working with other international agencies to combat global security threat including terrorism and piracy.

"We have heightened surveillance in coastal city of Mombasa city and across the country on key installation to avert any possible terror attacks," he added.

The east African nation's coastal towns are the backbone of the country's thriving tourism industry, which has been hit by the fear of terror attacks and the kidnapping of foreigners by Somali pirates from resorts near the border with Somalia.

Police have particularly warned against the laxity in the screening of cars for explosives at all shopping malls and any business or social gatherings with at least 10 people at any given moment that these might be vulnerable to attacks.

Kenya's tourism has suffered a decline in the number of tourists arriving since September 2011 when the Somali militant group, the Al-Shabaab, carried out the kidnappings of tourists in the Lamu archipelago and the kidnapping of the Spanish volunteers.

The port city, the capital Nairobi and other parts of Kenya have suffered a series of grenade attacks since Kenya sent troops into Somalia last year to try to pursue Al-Shabaab insurgents it blames for a surge in violence and kidnappings threatening tourism.

The coastal city, which is frequently visited by foreigners for holiday making, has been experienced three grenade attacks with recently one person being killed and several other wounded in a bomb attack in a nightclub. The government blamed the Al-Shabaab insurgents.