Politics
Kenya's opposition has mounted a legal challenge against a tough new anti-terrorism law. The BBC reports:
It asked the High Court to annul the law, saying it risked turning Kenya into a dictatorship.
The court refused to immediately suspend the legislation, but asked both sides to return to court on Wednesday.
The government says its security and intelligence agencies need more powers to tackle militant Islamists threatening Kenya's security. In the past month, al-Shabab, a militant group linked to al-Qaeda, has killed 64 people in two attacks in Kenya's north-eastern region of Mandera.
Last year, 67 people were killed when it laid siege to the upmarket Westgate shopping centre in the capital, Nairobi.
Kenya's parliament passed the law during a chaotic session on Thursday, which saw brawls between opposition and governing coalition MPs.
James Orengo, a lawyer for the opposition Coalition for the Restoration of Democracy (Cord) party, told the court the legislation had more than 10 clauses which violated the basic liberties of Kenyans, and was "inconsistent" with the constitution.
The government says the new rules compare favourably with U.S. laws enacted after 9/11. Reuters reports:
The measures were approved last week during several chaotic sessions of parliament, with rival lawmakers exchanging punches.
Nine foreign diplomatic missions, including the United States, Britain, France, Germany, Canada and Australia, said in a statement that they supported plans to improve security, but human rights should also be respected.
Over the weekend, a spokesman for Kenyatta singled out the United States for siding with "the noisemakers" and said Kenya's law was better than security legislation adopted by the United States after the al Qaeda attacks of Sept. 11, 2001.
"What is more, Kenya has no Guantanamo Bay!" Munyori Buku, senior director of public communication, said on the president's website.
