The father of one says his son had been “‘misled’ into thinking he could fight a holy war.” “Two Cardiff men, 18, held by Kenyan anti-terror police,” from BBC News, October 18:
Two 18-year-old men from Cardiff are being questioned by anti-terrorism police in Kenya.
Authorities in Kenya say the pair were arrested while crossing the border into Somalia.
The father of one man, of Somali descent, said he had flown out to save his son who had been “misled” into thinking he could fight a holy war.
Kenyan police say were under investigation by the anti-terrorism unit and are expected to be deported.
The other man is also a UK citizen, who is of Pakistani descent according to police.
A joint statement from the Muslim community in Cardiff said they were thankful the two men were safe and well and they were anxiously awaiting their return.
The father of the Somali Briton told the BBC he travelled to Kenya after his son disappeared from the family home in Cardiff.
Abdirhman Haji Abdallah told the BBC Somali Service in an interview: “He was brainwashed and taken away from us and he was told that he was going to fight a holy war in Somalia. So I travelled to Nairobi in an effort to save him.”
He alerted the High Commission in Nairobi as well as the Kenyan police and gave them a photograph of his son….