Intelligence in Kenya suggests World Cup games would be vulnerable targets

Concerns over prospective terrorist action against Westerners in Kenya is expected to be a catalyst for the removal of World Cup games planned for that country back to South Africa.

New Zealand Cricket (NZC) have told the International Cricket Council (ICC) today that they have serious concerns about the safety of the New Zealand side which is about to play a World Cup match in Kenya on February 21.

Last year, the New Zealanders were within 10 minutes of being even more exposed to a terrorist bomb than they already were while travelling from their Karachi hotel to their Test venue in Pakistan. As it was their hotel was badly damaged in a bomb blast which forced the end of the tour.

New Zealand team manager Jeff Crowe and the NZC security advisor Reg Dickason were part of the ICC security delegation that recently visited Kenya.

NZC chief executive Martin Snedden said today: "The delegation received strong information that there are active terrorist organisations currently operating in Nairobi which have the means and capability of launching a terrorist attack.

"We have received information which strongly suggests it is not safe for the New Zealand team to travel to Nairobi for the scheduled match on February 21.

"The information was that these terrorist groups are looking to target Western interests in Nairobi.

"The information indicates that Kenyan authorities are not capable of providing adequate security," he said.

Snedden expects the ICC executive board will make a decision on Thursday night (New Zealand time) about whether the two matches to be played in Kenya should be rescheduled.

"I would anticipate that in the light of the information on the table the ICC's executive board will recognise the risk to player safety and move the games to South Africa," Snedden said.

Dickason reported to NZC that a security document that had been prepared for the matches was not of a suitable standard.

From what Dickason viewed it was his opinion that neither the Kenyan Cricket Association nor the Government and Police had the required level of security available to ensure the safety of players.

While official briefings were held in Kenya, Crowe and Dickason also sought independent meetings.

Australian advice was that the Kenyan police were poorly equipped to deal with security threats and that they (the Australians) were in receipt of information about potential targets. They were not able to disclose what these might be. The source of that information had advised three weeks before the Mombasa incident that it could happen.

American advice was that there was a terrorist cell in operation in Nairobi that had already established the means and assets for an attack and the threat was "real and present."

The likely targets were: civil aviation, kidnap, car bombings and attacks against Western interests.

United States intelligence has Kenya, and specifically Nairobi, on critical alert status, its highest status of alert.

The inability of the Kenyan police to track down the perpetrators of the Mombasa incident showed how vulnerable the Kenyan security system was because the police themselves lacked the skills to adequately combat a potential terrorist threat.

At a meeting with the deputy regional security officer for the US Embassy in Nairobi, Ed Fortney, he outlined five points which influenced potential target selection.

They were: availability of a soft target, the opportunity to assemble assets to commit a terrorist act, the impact and publicity an attack would generate globally, the diminished likelihood of detection and apprehension in relation to the attack and the profile of the targets.

"When consideration is given to the points raised by Fortney, and, in particular, the five points he raises in relation to the factors influencing potential target selection, it is clearly apparent that a high level international sporting event in Nairobi meets all the criteria to put it in the high-risk category the likelihood of attack," Dickason said.

Based on the information gleaned and the fact that it came from sources with no vested interests he strongly urged that matches planned for Kenya be played in South Africa.