The Guardian
Thursday, June 21, 2012
Emran Erdogan, arrested last week on suspicion of being an operative of Al-Qaeda and Al-Shabaab terrorist groups, has been deported to Germany after Tanzania police completed its part of the investigation process.
It was reported last week that police from Uganda, Kenya, Tanzania and Germany – were jointly interrogating Erdogan (24), a German national of Turkish origin, who allegedly participated in executing terrorist attacks in Afghanistan and recently in Somalia.
Speaking to this paper yesterday, Acting Director of Criminal Investigation (DCI), Issaya Mungulu confirmed that the suspect has been sent back to Germany after “we completed our part of the interrogation.”
Mungulu said Erdogan, who is also known by the name of Salahuddin al-Kurdi, was repatriated on Monday (June 18, this year).
“We have sent him back home to face the law for crimes he is alleged to have committed,” said acting DCI.
According to regional and international media reports, Erdogan, is being hunted by Kenya police for his alleged involvement in a bomb blast at Nairobi’s Moi Avenue that killed one person and injured more than 30 others.
Mungulu did not specify legal actions against the suspect, but noted that “we have sent him back for further legal actions.”
The acting DCI allayed public fears, saying Tanzanians should not be worried by rising waves of terror incidents, as the country’s security forces were on the alert to counter any “attempt of such nature.’
“Instead people should continue cooperating with the police in identifying suspects in order to combat such evils.
He said the police conveyed special thanks to wananchi for the support that led to the arrest of Edorgan.
Speaking to reporters recently, the acting DCI said Erdogan, was an Al-Qaqeda operative suspected of carrying out attacks recently in Afghanistan and Somalia, where he collaborated with Al-Shabaab.
He said the suspect entered the country from Kenya and was arrested on June 10, this year in Dar es Salaam. He said that the suspect was being interrogated by defence and security organs in collaboration with detectives from other countries.
Police arrested Erdogan in connection with a bomb that tore through a trading centre in the heart of Nairobi on May 28.
According to political scientist Dirk Baehr and German media, Erdogan traveled to Waziristan in northwest Pakistan in early 2010 and joined a militant Islamist group.
He then went to Somalia last year and was suspected of joining up with the al Qaeda-linked militant group, Al Shabaab.
Kenya sent soldiers into Somalia in October last year to fight the al-Shabaab. Since then, there have been a string of grenade and bomb attacks in the capital Nairobi, Mombasa and the north of the country near the border with Somalia.
Earlier this month, the Ugandan police said they too were hunting for Erdogan and another German terror suspect, as they believed they had sneaked across the border from Kenya.