World View: Kenya’s Government in Crisis After al-Shabaab Kills 36 Christians

This morning’s key headlines from GenerationalDynamics.com

• Kenya’s government in crisis after al-Shabaab kills 36 Christians
• Wife and son of ISIS leader al-Baghdadi captured in Lebanon

Kenya’s government in crisis after al-Shabaab kills 36 Christians

Soldiers of Kenyan Defense Forces look over the bodies of some 36 Kenyans killed by al-Shabaab on Tuesday (AP)

On Tuesday, al-Shabaab terrorists killed 36 mainly Christian minersworking in a quarry in northern Kenya, near the border with Somalia.The 60 or so workers were asked to recite the Shahada, an Islamiccreed declaring oneness with God. Those who couldn’t were shot andkilled.

This follows a similar incident that occurred on November 22, whenAl-Shabaab terrorists forced a bus carrying 60 passengers to stop.They asked the passengers to recite Koranic verses, and those who wereunable to do so were lined up and then killed. 28 people were killed,19 men and 9 women.

Kenya’s president Uhuru Kenyatta has been facing growing criticismsever since al-Shabaab terrorists attacked the Westgate shopping mallin Nairobi last year, killing 67 people. Facing a political crisis,Kenyatta on Tuesday announced a government shakeup, and replaced twoof his top security chiefs.

Other Christians working in the same area are in dread for theirlives. Many of them have no money and are in debt, so they’re unableto leave the area. (“You load 16 tons, and what do you get? Anotherday older and deeper in debt. Saint Peter don’t you call me, cause Ican’t go – I owe my soul to the company store.” – Tennessee ErnieFord) Standard Media (Kenya) and AP and Bloomberg

Wife and son of ISIS leader al-Baghdadi captured in Lebanon

Officials in Lebanon’s army say that they’ve arrested the wife and sonof Abu Omar al-Baghdadi, the self-describe caliph and leader of theIslamic State of Iraq and Syria (IS or ISIS or ISIL). The pair werearrested ten days ago as they tried to enter Lebanon from Syria. Thearrests were made in conjunction with American and Westernintelligence sources. It’s believed that authorities waited ten daysto announce the capture in order to have time to interrogate the pairand get information that could be used for a surprise attack on ISISor al-Baghdadi himself. For example, she might know whereal-Baghdadi is now, or what routes he uses to travel around.

The name of the captured woman is Saja Hamid al-Dulaimi. It’s unclearwhether she actually is one of al-Baghdadi’s three wives, or whethershe’s a former wife, or whether she’s really married to some otherjihadist unrelated to al-Baghdadi. There are also questions aboutwhether the child who was captured was a boy or a girl. And ifal-Dulaimi is al-Baghdadi’s wife, then why was she coming to Lebanon?Was it to escape from al-Baghdadi, for whatever reason?

Whether al-Dulaimi knows enough to provide useful intelligence isunknown, but her greatest value may be as a bargaining chip to win therelease of 26 Lebanese security personnel previously kidnapped byISIS. Daily Star (Beirut) and Daily Star (Beirut) and CNN and Time

KEYS: Generational Dynamics, Kenya, al-Shabaab, Somalia,Uhuru Kenyatta, Tennessee Ernie Ford,Abu Omar al-Baghdadi, Saja Hamid al-Dulaimi, Lebanon,Islamic State / of Iraq and Syria/Sham/the Levant, IS, ISIS, ISIL
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