Wednesday 25 September 2013

Update: 'White Widow' Samantha Lewthwaite: Is she involved in the Kenya mall attack?


STORY HIGHLIGHTS
-Official: Woman among the attackers, but not known if she's Lewthwaite
-Samantha Lewthwaite was married to one of the bombers who attacked London in 2005
-She is wanted by the Kenyan authorities, who say she is the "White Widow"

-They say she became part of a terror cell linked to the Somali group Al-Shabaab

British-born Samantha Lewthwaite was once seen as a kind of victim of the July 2005 London terror attacks -- the pregnant wife of one of the suicide bombers who killed 52 people, now left alone to care for her children.

She condemned the attacks, but then vanished. Now, Kenyan authorities say, she is the infamous "White Widow," alleged to be a supporter and financier of people linked to the Somali terror group Al-Shabaab.

Reports that a white woman was among the terrorists who stormed Nairobi, Kenya's upscale Westgate shopping mall on Saturday -- an operation for which Al-Shabaab has claimed responsibility -- have prompted a slew of media speculation that she might have been involved.

But no official confirmation has been given. A senior Kenyan government official said a woman was among the attackers. Yet it is "impossible" based on the government's photo evidence (and before a forensics examination is complete) to determine if this woman is Lewthwaite.

Read more here

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