Finnish Embassy in Nairobi warned of terror strike
E-mail suggested threat was linked to Somalia situation
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The Finnish Embassy in the Kenyan capital Nairobi has received a warning of the threat of a terror attack, from a source that remains unclear.
The warning, delivered in e-mail, suggests the object of the attack could be the Finnish Embassy itself or some other embassy or consulate in the city.
Security measures have been stepped up in the building, but work went ahead on Wednesday as normal.
There are 25 staff members at the embassy, 13 of them Finnish.
According to Ambassador Heli Sirve, the Finnish Embassy has contacted the Foreign Ministry's Security Unit in Helsinki and the Kenyan anti-terrorist police, who have taken the warning seriously.
Other EU embassies have not received similar messages, nor has the US Embassy in Nairobi.
The warning of a possible terror strike came in an e-mail received last Saturday.
Sirve stated that it was not so much a direct threat as a warning of a possible threat.
The message was read only on Monday when a staffer opened up mail sent to the embassy's generic e-mail address. In fact there were three separate messages, each with the same warning. Two were sent from the same address.
Based on the names of the senders, the warnings came from Somalis.
Somalia, currently in a state of near-anarchy and in part occupied by Ethiopian troops, is among the responsibilities of the Nairobi legation.
The warning wrote of a terror threat coming "via Ethiopia". Ambassador Sirve drew the conclusion that this might be a reference to the present tense situation in the Ogaden region. The message appears in any event to have no connection with the recent unrest in Kenya itself.
Helsingin Sanomat
