Kenyan immigration official blames police for loss of Australian terror suspect

Kenya police criticized for losing terror suspect

NAIROBI, Kenya — A senior immigration official says the Kenyan police should explain how an Australian terror suspect handed to them by immigration investigators escaped from their custody.

The official said Monday that the man, Hussein Hashi Farah — identified as an Australian national of Somali origin — was arrested at the Kenya and Uganda border March 9 because he was on an international watch-list.

Farah went missing four days later. The immigration official was speaking on condition of anonymity because he is not authorized to speak with the press.

Kenyan police spokesman Eric Kiraithe declined to comment. A second police official said the suspect was a member of the Somali terror group al-Shabab. The official also spoke on condition because he is not authorized to speak with the press.