Kenya Deports Three to Belgium for Terrorism Trial

Kenya has deported three foreign men, accused of fighting alongside Somalia's Al-Qaida linked Shebab insurgents, to Belgium to face trial on terrorism charges, diplomatic sources said Friday.

The men, Belgian Mustapha Bouyabaren, Frenchman Rachid Benomari and Algerian Mohamed Said, were all jailed in July 2013 for a year for after pleading guilty to entering Kenya illegally.

The men are believed to have arrived in Kenya from Somalia, where a brutal Islamist insurgency is raging to topple the government.

Judges in the Kenyan capital ordered that Benomari and Said be deported on Thursday, while Bouyabaren was ordered to be sent to Belgium earlier in the week, diplomatic sources added.

In Belgium, the three will join the trial of 16 others which opened on Monday.

According to Le Soir daily, Benomari has appeared in photos brandishing a knife with which he promised to "cut the throat of infidels".

The Brussels trial, which is taking place under heightened security, comes amid mounting concern over the number of Belgians believed to be traveling to Africa, Syria and the Afghan-Pakistani border to fight alongside jihadist groups.

In recent years several foreigners crossed from Kenya into Somalia to join the Shebab, but now advances by African Union troops and infighting within the group have seen some foreigners leave the insurgents.