A Canadian woman made an emotional return home to Toronto on Saturday after being stranded in Kenya since being denied exit in May because authorities alleged she was using someone else’s passport.
Overjoyed to return home after the three-month ordeal she called a “nightmare” finally came to an end, Suaad Haji Mohamud hugged her 12-year-old son tightly after arriving at the airport. She was only allowed to travel after DNA tests showing she was indeed Mohamed Hussein’s mother, proving her identity.
Mohamud’s ordeal began when she traveled to Kenya to visit her mother. When she sought to board a plane to return to Canada in May, Kenyan immigration officials arrested and detained her, accusing her of identity fraud because her lips appeared different than those on the photograph in her four-year-old passport.
After holding her for eight days, Kenyan authorities freed the 31-year-old woman on bail.
“Really it is a bad experience. I have never been in jail, even in my own country,” she said on Wednesday.
Her Kenyan lawyer, Lucas Naikuni, will file a complaint against the Kenyan and Canadian governments, and against KLM airlines, CBC public TV reported.
Mohamud’s case has sparked a debate in Canada, where media have highlighted several cases of Canadian citizens who were held or faced difficulties abroad without Ottawa stepping in to help.
Canadian Prime Minister Stephen Harper has vowed to launch an investigation into the Canada Border Services Agency handled Mohamud’s case.
Gaza is rapidly running out of its limited fuel supply and stocks of food staples might become tight, officials said, after Israel blocked the entry of fuel and goods into the war-shattered territory, citing fighting with Iran. The Israeli military closed all Gaza border crossings on Saturday after announcing airstrikes on Iran carried out jointly with the US. Israeli authorities late on Monday night said that they would reopen the Kerem Shalom crossing from Israel to Gaza yesterday, for “gradual entry of humanitarian aid” into the strip, without saying how much. Israeli authorities previously said the crossings could not be operated safely during
Hungarian authorities temporarily detained seven Ukrainian citizens and seized two armored cars carrying tens of millions of euros in cash across Hungary on suspicion of money laundering, officials said on Friday. The Ukrainians were released on Friday, following their detention on Thursday, but Hungarian officials held onto the cash, prompting Ukraine to accuse Hungary’s Russia-friendly government of illegally seizing the money. “We will not tolerate this state banditism,” Ukrainian Minister of Foreign Affairs Andrii Sybiha said. The seven detained Ukrainians were employees of the Ukrainian state-owned Oschadbank, who were traveling in the two armored cars that were carrying the money between Austria and
Kosovar President Vjosa Osmani on Friday after dissolving the Kosovar parliament said a snap election should be held as soon as possible to avoid another prolonged political crisis in the Balkan country at a time of global turmoil. Osmani said it is important for Kosovo to wrap up the upcoming election process and form functional institutions for political stability as the war rages in the Middle East. “Precisely because the geopolitical situation is that complex, it is important to finish this electoral process which is coming up,” she said. “It is very hard now to imagine what will happen next.” Kosovo, which declared
Counting was under way in Nepal yesterday, after a high-stakes parliamentary election to reshape the country’s leadership following protests last year that toppled the government. Key figures vying for power include former Nepalese prime minister K. P. Sharma Oli, rapper-turned-mayor Balendra Shah, who is bidding for the youth vote, and newly elected Nepali Congress party leader Gagan Thapa. In Kathmandu’s tea shops and city squares, people were glued to their phones, checking results as early trends flashed up — suggesting Shah’s centrist Rastriya Swatantra Party (RSP) was ahead. Nepalese Election Commission spokesman Prakash Nyupane said the counting was ongoing “in a peaceful manner”
RSS