Kenyan tourism industry threatened by second kidnapping

The tourism industry in Kenya is facing devastation after a second kidnapping occurred in the African country in just on

Travel Insurance News - 03/10/2011

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Last night a 66 year-old disabled woman from France was taken from her seaside bungalow on the holiday islands of the Lamu Archipelago near the Kenya-Somalia border. The location is popular among European holidaymakers and celebrities but now appears to be experiencing spill-over strife from the war-torn country to the north.

Marie Dedieu is being held captive in Somalia and authorities in Kenya said that the country’s coastguard had engaged gunfire with kidnappers last nigh but said the group got away via speedboat into Somalia’s Ras Kamboni mangrove forests. Police claim to have arrested a security guard in connection with the incident.

Both the UK and French governments have since issued official travel advice warning citizens to forego any ‘non-essential’ travel to any areas of Kenya within 150kms of the Somali border.

The news comes after 56 year-old Judith Tebbutt of Hertfordshire and her husband were attacked just a few kilometres away on an island in the same archipelago on 11 September. Mr Tebbutt was shot dead in the incident and Mrs Tebbutt is being held inside Somalia.

Kenya has blamed hard-line Islamists al-Shabaab for the most recent incident, however it is largely believed that a Somali pirate gang is responsible.

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