Two German nationals and a Dutch woman filmmaker were arrested by Kenyan police on suspicions related to terrorism, a police spokesperson said on Friday in Nairobi.
The German Foreign Ministry in Berlin identified one of those held as Andrej Hermlin, a Berlin jazz musician.
A ministry spokesperson quoted Hermlin’s wife as saying the musician had gone to a hospital to visit his sick mother in law.
Hermlin, who plays the swing style of jazz, had then proceeded to Nairobi International Airport, where he was arrested shortly before boarding his flight with the other German man and the Dutch woman.
According to a Kenyan television station, NTV, the three foreigners, who were in Kenya working as journalists, were found with ”vital security documents” and other suspect material.
”There has been an arrest of suspected terrorists. They entered as journalists and they were conducting themselves in a suspicious manner. Police continue to investigate,” spokesperson Eric Kiraithe told journalists.
He said they were arrested at the airport on Thursday as they were set to leave Kenya.
It was unclear if their arrest was connected to the current unrest that has gripped the East African nation over allegedly flawed election results.
Fleur van Dissel, the Dutch national, is a documentary filmmaker. According to a colleague, she was being held at a police station in Nairobi and was in good condition but was not certain why she was being held.
The name of the other German man was not immediately known. — Sapa-dpa