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Turborama

(22,109 posts) Tue Sep 24, 2013, 03:11 PM Sep 2013

'White widow': Samantha Lewthwaite linked to Nairobi attack

Source: The Guardian

Vikram Dodd and agencies | Wednesday 25 September 2013 08.48 BST

Witnesses to the Kenyan shopping centre massacre have said a woman who spoke English was one of the attackers.

=snip=

The witnesses said she gave instructions in English which would be translated into Swahili as the attackers took hold of the shopping centre.

The paper quoted a witness as saying: "The woman was not armed but as soon as she issued orders, the men would go on a killing rampage."

Another witness said: "It was definitely a woman because we could tell it from the voice."

Read more: http://www.theguardian.com/world/2013/sep/24/kenya-mall-siege-british-samantha-lewthwaite

Samantha Lewthwaite, "White Widow" of July 7, London bomber, possibly among Kenya mall attackers?

LONDON | British officials said Tuesday it was possible that a woman from Northern Ireland whose husband blew himself up in the July 7, 2005, terror attacks on London's transport system was among the al-Shabab militants behind the siege on the Westgate mall in Nairobi, Kenya.

On Monday, Kenyan Foreign Minister Amina Mohamed told PBS that two or three U.S. nationals and one British woman were among the attackers in the siege and hostage drama, though al Shabab tweeted Tuesday that it "categorically denies the involvement of any woman" in the operation.

Mohamed said the woman involved had, "done this many times before," adding weight to the speculation that Samantha Lewthwaite, who security officials believe did travel to East Africa, and specifically Somalia, several years ago. She is wanted in Kenya for involvement in an alleged terror plot to bomb locations on Kenya's coast last year.

Lewthwaite was dubbed the White Widow after her husband blew himself up on July 7 in London. She converted to Islam as a teenager, reportedly after her parents went through a divorce and she was comforted by Muslim friends of the family.

More: http://www.cbsnews.com/8301-202_162-57604345/samantha-lewthwaite-white-widow-of-july-7-london-bomber-possibly-among-kenya-mall-attackers/

7 replies

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'White widow': Samantha Lewthwaite linked to Nairobi attack (Original Post) Turborama Sep 2013 OP

kick to raise up so people will see this and for interesting info. uppityperson Sep 2013 #1

Presumably, they'll be able to ID her corpse to confirm. nt geek tragedy Sep 2013 #2

WTF Since when did islamic extremists take orders from a woman? IronLionZion Sep 2013 #3

Her nickname is a play on the Chechen "Black Widows" moniker Turborama Sep 2013 #5

so a woman is viewed differently if her husband died "a martyr" JI7 Sep 2013 #7

i think because they have been recruiting from the West the culture kind of changes JI7 Sep 2013 #6

Call me warped but I half expected it to be a group of NRA Teahadists ... Myrina Sep 2013 #4

uppityperson

(115,678 posts)

1. kick to raise up so people will see this and for interesting info.

Reply to Turborama (Original post)

Wed Sep 25, 2013, 12:46 PM

Sep 2013

geek tragedy

(68,868 posts)

2. Presumably, they'll be able to ID her corpse to confirm. nt

Reply to Turborama (Original post)

Wed Sep 25, 2013, 12:54 PM

Sep 2013

IronLionZion

(45,494 posts)

3. WTF Since when did islamic extremists take orders from a woman?

Reply to Turborama (Original post)

Wed Sep 25, 2013, 01:55 PM

Sep 2013

This seems very odd.

There was at least one white female commander high up in the Tamil Tigers but she was somebody's wife and they are a more equal opportunity terrorist org.

From what I've read about Al Shabaab, they are more of the deeply mysogynistic Sharia law types and have recently been taken over under the umbrella of Al Qaeda. Samantha Lewthwaite's husband blew himself up 8 years ago so I find it odd that any widow with small children would lead a terrorist attack for any reason, especially in support of this Somalian cause. Very strange stuff

Turborama

(22,109 posts)

5. Her nickname is a play on the Chechen "Black Widows" moniker

Reply to IronLionZion (Reply #3)

Wed Sep 25, 2013, 03:59 PM

Sep 2013

In December of 2011, Kenyan police raided a two-room apartment in Mombasa, Kenya. They found chemicals similar to those used in the July 7, 2005 bombing in London. Lewthwaite was identified as the person who rented the apartment but she wasn't captured.

However, Jermaine Grant, who is British, was captured at the Mombasa apartment. He faces charges of conspiring to explode devices to hurt civilians, according to Kenyan police. Grant told police that he was working for Lewthwaite. She faces the same charges as Grant and another man later arrested trying to flee the country.

In March, the London Daily Telegraph reported that Lewthwaite and Fouad Manswab were plotting to free Grant, whose trial was set to begin Sept. 23 (today) in Mombasa. "We know that Fouad is in touch with Samantha Lewthwaite, and they were planning to rescue their accomplice," said Jacob Ondari, the deputy public prosecutor, at the time.

=snip=

And the nickname "White Widow"? The British media are playing off the term "black widow," which has been used by Chechen terrorists to describe women who take part in bombings and assaults after the death of their husbands. Some Al Shabab postings have described Lewthwaite as the "White Sister."

More: http://www.csmonitor.com/World/Security-Watch/terrorism-security/2013/0923/Samantha-Lewthwaite-Is-White-Widow-behind-Kenya-mall-attack

The Telegraph also reported in March that her fingerprints were found in Kenya during the investigation: http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/africaandindianocean/kenya/9125104/Fingerprints-confirm-Kenya-fugitive-is-77-widow-Samantha-Lewthwaite.html

Some details about the Black Widows: http://www.start.umd.edu/start/data_collections/tops/terrorist_organization_profile.asp?id=3971

JI7

(89,260 posts)

7. so a woman is viewed differently if her husband died "a martyr"

Reply to Turborama (Reply #5)

Wed Sep 25, 2013, 04:31 PM

Sep 2013

i guess they view them as holding some special position not given to other women.

JI7

(89,260 posts)

6. i think because they have been recruiting from the West the culture kind of changes

Reply to IronLionZion (Reply #3)

Wed Sep 25, 2013, 04:29 PM

Sep 2013

there was that incident where there was some inner conflict and that one american they recruited ended up being killed by some other one.

now they just seem desperate to keep any support they can .

Myrina

(12,296 posts)

4. Call me warped but I half expected it to be a group of NRA Teahadists ...

Reply to Turborama (Original post)

Wed Sep 25, 2013, 02:43 PM

Sep 2013

... demanding to see POTUS' real Kenyan birth certificate.

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