Kenya: second man arrested over murder of British tourist

GlobalPost

A second man has been charged in a Kenyan court over the murder of a British tourist and the abduction of his wife at a remote luxury beach resort near the border with Somalia.

Publishing executive David Tebbutt, 58, was shot dead and his wife, Judith, 56, was taken hostage from the Kiwayu Safari Village resort by unidentified gunmen in the early hours of September 11.

Kenyan Issa Sheikh Said was charged with robbery with violence and kidnapping with intention to murder at a magistrate's court in the coastal town of Lamu, the Sydney Morning Herald reports.

Robbery with violence is a capital offense in Kenya.

"He denied the charges and his case will be heard on October 25," Lamu's Senior Resident Magistrate Rwito Kithinji said.

Another Kenyan was charged on Monday in connection with the killing and kidnapping. Ali Babitu Kololo also pleaded not guilty, CNN reports.

Mr Kololo, a former worker at the resort, said he was not a willing member of the group that kidnapped Mrs Tebbutt and was forced at gunpoint to bring the kidnappers to the location, the BBC reported.

Somali pirates in the lawless Horn of Africa nation have said Mrs Tebbutt is being held in the country.

Local elders in Amara village near the Islamist-controlled northern Harardhere town in Somalia said Mrs Tebbutt's kidnappers brought her to the village by sea and transferred her onto land.


 

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