KENYA, South Africa, Sept. 1 (UPI) -- Muslim Imams describe the recent police crackdown in Kenya as discriminative and oppressive and accuse police of high-handed tactics aimed at intimidation.
Kenyan police spokesman King'ori Mwangi told BBC News Online Monday the Mombasa arrest sweep was meant to rid the area of petty criminals, drug dealers and illegal immigrants.
"We arrested all manner of undesirable people, ranging from illegal immigrants to illegal gamblers and prostitutes," Mwangi said.
A popular tourist destination, Mombasa has been a focus of investigations by Kenyan, Israeli and U.S. security agents since a car bomb destroyed an Israeli-owned beachfront hotel in November 2002.
The Secretary-General of the Mombasa-based Council of Imams, Sheikh Mohammed Dor, said the operation didn't achieve its goal and instead was a "corrupt" exercise.
"The police arrested school children and innocent women who were only released after paying bribes of between $6 and $25," Dor said, and accused some policemen carrying out the sweeps of being drunk.
