20111018
Reuters
NAIROBI (Reuters) - Kenya has arrested two British citizens suspected of ties to Somalia's al Qaeda-linked rebels as they crossed the border into the Horn of Africa country, Kenyan police said on Tuesday.

"There are two British citizens who were arrested yesterday. We suspect that they are coordinating the activities of al Shabaab ... or maybe they were passing on information to these people," said Charles Owino, deputy police spokesman.

Owino said the two men, one of Somali descent, the other Pakistani descent, were seized in the border town Kiunga, just north of the Lamu archipelago.

Gunmen thought to be linked to Somali militants have kidnapped a British woman and a wheelchair-bound French woman from the idyllic archipelago in separate incidents in recent weeks.

Kiunga is close to Somalia's Raskamboni forest, a well known rebel hideout in southern Somalia.

Kenya, east Africa's biggest economy, is on high alert along its porous border with Somalia after a wave of abductions that risks damaging its reputation as a relatively safe tourist and investment destination.

Kenyan and Somali troops launched an offensive on Sunday against al Shabaab rebels in southern Somalia.