Note: The following text is a quote:
http://www.travel.state.gov/travel/cis_pa_tw/tw/tw_923.html
Travel Warning
United States Department of State
Bureau of Consular Affairs
Washington, DC 20520
This information is current as of today, Sat May 05 2007 03:23:35 GMT-0700.
KENYA
February 06, 2007
This Travel Warning is being issued to remind American citizens to consider carefully the risks of travel to Kenya at this time due to ongoing safety and security concerns. This supersedes the Travel Warning of August 10, 2006.
The Department continues to recommend that private American citizens in Kenya evaluate their personal security situation in light of continuing terrorist threats and increasing incidents of violent crime. Terrorist acts may include suicide operations, bombings, attacks on civil aviation, and attacks on maritime vessels in or near Kenyan ports. Violent criminal attacks, including armed carjacking and home invasions/burglary, can occur at any time and in any location, and are becoming increasingly frequent, brazen, vicious, and often fatal. In January 2007, two family members of a U.S. Embassy employee were killed by armed carjackers. Kenyan authorities have limited capacity to deter and investigate such acts.
U.S. citizens should be aware of the risk of indiscriminate and random attacks on civilian targets in public places, including tourist sites and locations where foreigners are known to congregate, as well as commercial operations associated with U.S. or other foreign interests.
American citizens in Kenya should remain vigilant, particularly in public places frequented by foreigners such as clubs, hotels, resorts, upscale shopping centers, restaurants, and places of worship. Americans should also remain vigilant in residential areas, schools, and at outdoor recreational events, and should avoid demonstrations and large crowds.
Americans who travel to or reside in Kenya despite this Travel Warning are encouraged to register through the State Department’s travel registration website, https://travelregistration.state.gov. By registering, American citizens make it easier for the Embassy to contact them in case of emergency. Americans without Internet access may register directly with the U.S. Embassy in Nairobi. The U.S. Embassy is located on United Nations Avenue, Gigiri, Nairobi, Kenya; telephone (254) (20) 363-6000; fax (254) (20) 363-6410. In the event of an after-hours emergency, the Embassy duty officer may be contacted at (254) (20) 363-6170. The Embassy home page is http://kenya.usembassy.gov .
Updated information on travel and security in Kenya may be obtained from the Department of State by calling 1-888-407-4747 toll free in the United States, or for callers outside the United States and Canada, a regular toll line at 1-202-501-4444. For further information please consult the Consular Information Sheet for Kenya, the East Africa Public Announcement, and the Worldwide Caution Public Announcement, which are available on the Bureau of Consular Affairs Internet website at http://travel.state.gov .
http://www.zeenews.com/znnew/articles.asp?aid=369704&sid=SAS
“Pak cleric threatens tit-for-tat kidnappings”
ARTICLE SNIPPET: “Islamabad, May 05: A Pakistani cleric of Islamabad’s Lal Masjid, who has been at the centre of controversy over his demand for imposition of Sharia, has threatened to kidnap security men if the abduction of madrassa students was not stopped immediately, a news report has said.
Maulana Abdul Aziz of Lal Masjid warned intelligence agencies against “kidnapping” his madrassa students.
“If the intelligence agencies continue to kidnap our students, we will start kidnapping their personnel. The kidnapped personnel will be kept on Lal Masjid premises,” Aziz told a prayer meeting at Lal Masjid yesterday. “