Saturday, July 06, 2013
Tanzania has arrested a British man suspected of involvement in
unspecified "terrorism activities" in Britain, police in the east
African country said.
Iqbal Ahsan Ali was arrested in Tanzania's southern Mbeya region
after being found in possession of both British and Tanzanian passports,
which is a crime in Tanzania as it forbids dual citizenship, police
said.
"We have been in contact with our counterparts in the UK and they
have confirmed that the suspect is wanted in their country for
involvement in terrorism activities," Robert Manumba, director of
criminal investigations, said in a statement on Friday.
Manumba did not give further details of what Ali was sought for in
Britain. British diplomats in Tanzania made no immediate comment.
Several people have been arrested on terrorism charges in Tanzania since bombings killed at least eight people in May and June.
Authorities in Tanzania, one of the region's most stable countries,
are concerned at the growth of an Islamist movement accused of indirect
links to Somalia's al Shabaab rebels.
Police said they had verified Ali's British passport as being
authentic. They said the Tanzanian passport he was carrying was a fake.
(Reporting by Fumbuka Ng'wanakilala; Editing by Matthew Tostevin)