– EMRAH ERDOGAN & MAJID NAJJAR

Emrah  Erdogan (pic), born in 1988, is a German citizen from Turkish descent and an associate of Burak Karan. At some point, probably in late 2011, Emrah  Erdogan left Germany and joined the Al Qaeda afiliated al-Shabab militia in Somalia. He uses several aliases like Imraan AL-Kurdy or Salahaddin AL-Kurdy, which suggests he is from Kurdish origin.

According to Kenyan Police Spokesman Eric Kiraithe, on 05/31/2012, Emrah  Erdogan entered Kenya, on 05/03/2012, with a Swede friend Majid  Najjar, to seek medical attention after being injured in a fight with Kenya Defence Forces in Almadhow in Somalia’s Juba region (see – Almadow Operation). It is believed Emrah  Erdogan entered Kenya from Somalia through Garissa, and went to Nairobi before returning to Garissa .“We have run details on his passport through the global system and it shows nothing, which means they are forgedpapers,” revealed police spokesman Eric Kiraithe.

Emrah  Erdogan and Majid  Najjar then travelled to Eastleigh in Nairobi where they visited a private clinic for treatment after being injured in an attack by Kenyan troops in Afmadhow, Somalia.

It was then that Anti-Terrorism Police Unit was alerted there were patients of Somali origin seeking medical treatment at the clinic. But by the time the detectives visited the clinic, they established the two militants had left and were headed to a lodging where they were staying. Without knowledge of their plans, the police kept surveillance on the two for a week as they moved from one place to the other, including mosques for prayers.

Unknown to the officers, the two were carrying what informers said was a lot of money, which they used to hire a car to take them back to the Kenya-Somalia border after a seven-day stint in Nairobi. In Garissa town, the two who were driving themselves around the town for a day visiting various places suddenly abandoned their car on the roadside after realising they were being trailed. And in a bold move, the two walked to a nearby police station and claimed they were workers of a local Non-Governmental Organisation and feared being kidnapped in the town by “criminals” asking for .police protection.

It was after two days that an informant tipped police, on 05/12/2012, saying Majid  Najjar was in town. The officers trailed him to the room and arrested him. Described by Swiss media as a 19-year-old immigrant from Biel, Majid  Najjar told police Erdogan jumped into a bus as soon as they arrived in Nairobi and left for Mombasa (see also – Mombasa 01/2012 Plot). Combined security teams in the Coast have since then been trying to trace him. Majid  Najjar is also accused of being in the country illegally. He had pleaded guilty to the charges, on 05/14/2012, but as he was being given mention and hearing dates, he changed his mind, saying he wanted to plead not guilty.

Majid  Najjar’s travelling documents showed he entered Kenya, on 02/23/2011, after he was granted a visa that that was valid up to 04/30/2011. After his visa expired he reportedly never tried to renew it. According to Kenyan Police Spokesman Eric Kiraithe Majid  Najjar was an accomplice of the wanted German terror suspect Ahmed K. Mueller and they had a similar mission in the country (see also – Uganda Hunt ).