Is 'White Widow' behind bloodbath in Kenya?
BY THANE BURNETT
FIRST POSTED: MONDAY, SEPTEMBER 23, 2013 05:06 PM EDT | UPDATED: MONDAY, SEPTEMBER 23, 2013 05:48 PM EDT
Samantha Lewthwaite. (Handout)
As Canada and other western countries investigate whether their citizens are victims of the Kenyan mall attack, one notorious name is being speculated about as possibly being behind the bloodbath -- the "White Widow."
There is no hard evidence of the involvement of British-born mom, Samantha Lewthwaite, 29, who changed her name after marrying British Muslim Germaine Lindsay, a man who died as a suicide bomber during the July 7, 2005, terrorist attacks at London's King's Cross subway station in which 26 people were killed.
But survivors have talked about a white woman yelling instructions on Saturday to the killers at the upscale Nairobi mall where 62 people were slaughtered in a terrorist ambush.
Sources have told Reuters that a white woman has been found dead among attackers killed by security forces.
Last year, Kenyan officials placed Lewthwaite on an alert list, as they suspect she's been involved in other attacks.
If she isn't among the dead attackers, she could be involved from a distance.
Including western recruits is a valuable PR tool for jihadist groups, explains Simon Reich, a professor of global affairs at Rutgers University in New Jersey.
While not speaking specifically about Lewthwaite, he explains having westerners as part of the fight, "Gives credibility to their oft-repeated assertion that their cause transcends any national interests."
For al Shabaab -- after a number of defeats by regional security forces -- it also strengthens their image as a global threat, while for U.K. and North American leaders it increases the concern that their reach extends beyond Africa.
