Brit jihadi White Widow dodging justice ‘with Kenya security service mole’s help’

Exclusive from the Mirror

A mole in Kenya’s security services is helping British ­jihadi the White Widow dodge justice, experts fear.

Samantha Lewthwaite – the widow of 7/7 bomber Germaine Lindsay – orchestrated the 2013 Westgate Mall attack in capital Nairobi, which killed 71 people, including five Brits. Kenyan police believe the 30-year-old entered the country in 2011 on a fake passport and joined terror ­network al-Shabaab in Mombasa. 

Pals of Lewthwaite are now believed to have infiltrated a surveillance unit. And insiders say “corruption” may have played a part in the world’s most wanted woman evading capture and crossing the border to Somalia, where she is now thought to be hiding.

George Musamali, a security expert who liaises with intelligence forces in Kenya, said: “The White Widow has been elusive and the only concern for us is she is privy to intelligence from our end and we are asking ourselves if we have been compromised. Have we been infiltrated by an element of the al-Shabaab operation? We are planning operations and this lady is able to slip out the country.

“The White Widow was actually arrested [after the Westgate attack] but produced forged documents. She was let loose and corruption played a major hand in that. This is why we have the FBI, CIA and MI6 actively involved in the hunt for Samantha.”

Chris Phillips, former head of the National Counter Terrorism Security Office, said: “There is always a ­problem with insider leaks. . . Islamic State have migrated to sub-Saharan Africa. The world needs to get its head around the fact that IS has not gone away, it’s moved to Africa and that’s a big ­continent to hide in.”