'Iranians nabbed with fake Israeli passports were heading to Belgium'
Kenyan police say man and woman will not be treated as terror suspects, but rather as illegal migrants, and will be charged by immigration authorities for possession of forged passports.
Kenyan police said on Monday that two Iranians arrested in Nairobi last week carrying fake Israeli passports were heading to Belgium, rather than Israel, as previously thought.
"We understand they arrived here from Armenia and wanted to use the forged Israeli passports to go to Belgium. They wanted to go to Europe," John Mulaulu, acting head of the anti-terrorism police unit, told AFP.
"We believe they are a couple, a man and wife," the official said.
He said the two are being treated as illegal migrants, rather than terrorist suspects.
"They will be charged by the immigration authorities for being in possession of forged passports," Mulaulu said.
Security forces in Kenya have been on high alert as the country commemorates the anniversary of last year's attack by Somalia's al-Qaeda-affiliated al Shabab militia - a hard line Sunni group with no known links to Shiite Iran - on Nairobi's Westgate shopping mall that left at least 67 dead.
An airport security source said that Kenya was regularly used as a transit point for illegal migrants from the Middle East region - mainly Iran, Iraq and Syria - hoping to travel to Europe.
He said the illegal migrants are often caught with fake passports from Mediterranean countries such as Greece, Cyprus and Israel.
Last month, three Iranian nationals were arrested at Nairobi's JKIA airport while transiting to London on fake Greek passports and were jailed for one year.
Iranians are treated with particular suspicion in Kenya as the east African nation is a close ally of Israel.
Last year, a Kenyan court sentenced two Iranians to life in prison for terror-related charges, including possessing explosives allegedly to be used in bomb attacks.
