Nirobi, Kenya: Even as she earned notoriety in her native Britain and internationally, the fate of this mother of four is increasingly becoming intertwined with that of Kenya.
Flitting through the shadows of the dark, violent, criminal underworld, she has been branded the ‘White Widow’ by world media, dragging her four innocent children along her trail of death and destruction.
And on Wednesday, the mystery surrounding this shadowy British terror suspect sought by police following the Westgate Mall massacre deepened after police said they were not aware she rented an apartment in Nairobi in 2011.
This emerged as Inspector-General of Police David Kimaiyo announced that eight principal suspects were in custody following the September 21 slaughter of over 60 people by gunmen in the upscale shopping complex.
But Kimaiyo added to the mystery of SamanthaLewthwaite, the fugitive ‘White Widow’, saying police were not aware she had rented an apartment near Junction Mall in Nairobi.
“We are not aware Samantha was here or lived near Junction. All we know is that the woman is a wanted criminal in connection with an offence that was committed in Mombasa,” Kimaiyo told a news conference yesterday.
Her residence
But emerging reports suggested Lewthwaite stayed in the neighbourhood, which is less than 100 metres from Junction Mall, for up to seven months in 2011.
Kenyan authorities are hunting her down on charges of being in possession of explosives and conspiracy to commit a felony dating back to December 2011.
In the aftermath of the attack on Westgate Mall by gunmen from the Al-Shabaab terror group, Interpol issued a “Red Notice” alert, or internationally wanted persons alert, for Lewthwaite at the request of Kenyan authorities. Authorities in South Africa, Britain and the United States are also pursuing her.
Sky News reported that she used her South African alias, Natalie Faye Webb, while she rented the apartment. She lived there with her four children and despite having no apparent income, paid Sh60,000 per month for the three-bedroom flat, the British media said and published the lease between her and the landlord.
And the Daily Mirror on Tuesday reported that the White Widow’s horrific ambition was for her angelic sons to become suicide bombers.
The report cited a nine-page manuscript in which she recounts grooming sessions encouraging them to follow the barbaric example of her first husband, Germaine Lindsay. Lindsay was one of the four bombers involved in the July 7 terror attacks in London in 2005, in which 52 people were killed and hundreds more injured.
Her children by Lindsay – son Abdullah and daughter Reqayyah, eight – have the middle names Shaheed and Shahidah, male and female forms of the word martyr.
According to the Sky News report, detectives examining the hard drive of a computer abandoned in her house in Mombasa found several self-portraits of Lewthwaite, including one where she posed with two of her children.
They also discovered evidence that the news outlet says led them to the apartment block in Nairobi overlooking the Junction Mall, which officials believe was a potential target for Al-Shabaab, the terror group Lewthwaite has been linked with.
Kimaiyo’s statement on Wednesday seemed to contradict this position.
Lewthwaite had long been believed to be hiding in Kenya and posted a poem on Twitter in September 2012. The poem was dedicated to Osama bin Laden, the Al-Qaeda leader killed by US Navy seals and buried at sea.
In the poem, the 29-year-old mother of three warned that Al-Qaeda is “stronger and fiercer” than ever.
“I’d rather be receiving my martyrdom, think I’ll get ready…and buy a vest,” apparently harbouring thoughts of blowing herself up on a suicide mission.
Vowed to fight
She pledged to continue the fight to bring terror to the West, saying: “Us we are left to continue what you started…To seek the victory until we are martyred.”
She warned the West – and US President Barack Obama – that the jihad was not over.
“As for our enemies our words will be less,” she wrote. “You picked the wrong army to contest. Al-Qaeda are stronger and fiercer than ever. Their (sic) was no victory for you Mr Obama. The honour is his on martyred Osama!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!”
An attendant where she lived near Junction Mall in 2011 said she loved to take walks and to drink.
She rarely used a taxi and had a son called Adam and she always asked about the nationalities of people who frequented the mall, the attendant said.
After the London 2005 bombings, she denounced her husband’s actions and soon disappeared with the children before her name came to light again when she was linked with an investigation by Kenyan police into an Al-Shabaab terror cell planning attacks on Western targets in Mombasa in 2012.
Their suspicions were raised when in November 2012, Briton Jermaine Grant was charged in a Mombasa court with being an Al-Shabaab terrorist. Police said a woman escaped during his arrest.
She remains the main suspect in a grenade attack at Jericho Beer Garden in Mombasa in which three people died and over 30 were injured.
Last year, reports showed detectives in South Africa were leading the hunt for Lewthwaite, whose South African passport bears the name Natalie Faye Webb. They were investigating claims that she was hiding in central Kenya.
Yesterday, Kimaiyo said the woman remains a threat to the country and that a warrant is out on her.
“Let whoever knows where she is tell us. The warrant applies internationally,” added Kimaiyo, who was accompanied by CID Director Ndegwa Muhoro.
Kimaiyo said investigations into the Westgate attack were at an advanced stage. The government will issue a comprehensive probe report in due course, he added.
He said the eight suspects are assisting police with investigations and will be charged in court soon.
“We have talked to many suspects but we are now holding eight principal ones who will soon be charged in court,” said Kimaiyo.
He did not give details of the suspects’ identities or their role in the Westgate attack.
The main focus of investigation is on the four bodies believed to belong to some of the attackers. Experts are conducting various tests to establish the identities of the male bodies that were recovered from the site of the attack exactly one month after it happened.
Without elaborating, Kimaiyo said they have established that some Kenyans contributed money to facilitate the attack.
He said plans were afoot to arm more civilians and employ more reservists to strengthen community policing. Kimaiyo said the move would enhance security, as members of the public would actively participate in the war on crime.
“We are in the concluding phase of a process to determine a strong policy position for community policing with a view to making a determination on whether arming more civilians or employing police reservists would be a valuable strategy to help in combating crime,” he said.
He noted that the recent Westgate attack attested to the fact that it is safe to have guns in the hands of good people than bad people.
“Civilians, reservists and the police were able to work hand-in-hand to evacuate people at Westgate,” he added.
By CYRUS OMBATI, ROSELYNE OBALA and AGENCIES