GUN SMUGGLER ARRESTED

NAIROBI, Kenya, Jun 19 - A Somali businessman was arrested early Friday after he was found smuggling rifles and ammunition to Nairobi.

The trader was traveling in a commuter bus from Garissa to Nairobi when he was intercepted at a roadblock in Matuu, according to police.

He had stashed the guns in a jerrican together with 27 rounds of ammunitions.

“We acted on a tip off and nabbed him at a roadblock, it appears he had done it long enough,” a senior police officer said and added that the trader had been transported to Nairobi for further questioning.

Police believe he is part of an arms smuggling cartel that operates in Eastleigh in collaboration with others at the Kenya-Somalia boarder.

“This is a dangerous man, he was found with two Tokalev pistols, two Browning pistols and three Revolvers,” one police source said.

Another senior police officer involved in the Uhuru Park blast investigations told Capital News that they were interested to question the suspect to establish if he knew the source of hand grenades used at the Uhuru Park blast.

Detectives attached to the Special Crimes Prevention Unit who arrested the suspect at Matuu said they had been looking for the suspect since February after he was named in the arms trafficking business.

“We can not really say he is a suspect at this moment but we are certainly going to question him, he could help shed light on the source of these grenades,” our source said.

Police were still questioning three suspects – two men and a woman – arrested on Wednesday afternoon over the blasts that killed six people and wounded more than 100 others.

The suspects spent the part of Friday being interrogated at the Anti-Terrorism Police Unit (ATPU) headquarters in Nairobi area by a team of detectives from three different police units set up to probe the matter.

Police have vowed to expedite the investigation on the blast following a directive by President Mwai Kibaki.

Two explosives ripped through a massive rally at Uhuru Park last Sunday as renowned clergymen prayed to end a gathering that had been attended by politicians who have ganged up with a large section of churches to oppose the enactment of a new law which will be submitted to a national referendum on August 4.