(Xinhua) -- Kenyan prosecutors have dropped illegal immigration charges against a wealthy Somali businessman accused of financing Somalia's Islamist movement.
Kenyan authorities arrested Abukar Omar Aden and his son on the border between Kenya and Somalia last month after Ethiopia-backed Somali transitional government troops routed the former powerful Islamists in December. The prosecutors confirmed on Friday they had dropped charges on Thursday for the 72-year-old Aden who had pleaded guilty to being in Kenya illegally but argued that he should be given protection because he was fleeing for his life.
Fleeing from the violence he instigated. | Prosecutor Vincent Wohoro did not give a reason why the charges against Aden were dropped but said he was set free following instructions from the country's Attorney-General Amos Wako.The wheelchair-bound Aden is believed to have been a major source of funding for Somalia's now-defeated Supreme Council of Islamic Courts. |