Kenyan
officials have dismissed a report that British terror suspect Samantha
Lewthwaite, known as the "White Widow", had been inadvertently helped to
leave the coastal resort island of Lamu.
According to local media, a woman fitting Lewthwaite's description, tried to trick police into escorting her to a military base using fake documents in April.
But it is thought border officials in the coastal town of Lamu stopped her and she left with three men before they had a chance to question her.
It is also believed that Lewthwaite and the men fled in the same Toyota 4x4, which was used in the shooting of two soldiers in Milmani last week.
"These are wild allegations, which are not true," Lamu County police commander Leonard Omollo told AFP news agency explaining that the woman who was escorted had been identified as a Spanish tourist.
"This lady was a visiting tourist from Spain and she has since returned home," he said.
Kenya's military spokesman, Willy Wesonga, refused to comment on the report.
Lewthwaite, a 30-year-old Muslim convert, has been linked to Somalia's Al-Qaeda-tied Shabab rebels, who have launched a string of attacks in Kenya including last September's assault on Nairobi's Westgate shopping mall that claimed at least 67 lives.
She is the widow of Germaine Lindsay, one of four Islamist suicide bombers who attacked the London transport network on July 7, 2005, killing 52 people.
Lewthwaite is the subject of an Interpol "red notice" warrant for her detention, issued at Kenya's request. She is wanted in Kenya on charges of being in possession of explosives and conspiracy to commit a felony dating back to December 2011.
Last week, there were reports that the British fugitive married suspected warlord Hassan Maalim Ibrahim who is also known as Sheikh Hassan.
He is a senior commander in the radical terror group al-Shabaab.
According to local media, a woman fitting Lewthwaite's description, tried to trick police into escorting her to a military base using fake documents in April.
But it is thought border officials in the coastal town of Lamu stopped her and she left with three men before they had a chance to question her.
It is also believed that Lewthwaite and the men fled in the same Toyota 4x4, which was used in the shooting of two soldiers in Milmani last week.
"These are wild allegations, which are not true," Lamu County police commander Leonard Omollo told AFP news agency explaining that the woman who was escorted had been identified as a Spanish tourist.
"This lady was a visiting tourist from Spain and she has since returned home," he said.
Kenya's military spokesman, Willy Wesonga, refused to comment on the report.
Lewthwaite, a 30-year-old Muslim convert, has been linked to Somalia's Al-Qaeda-tied Shabab rebels, who have launched a string of attacks in Kenya including last September's assault on Nairobi's Westgate shopping mall that claimed at least 67 lives.
She is the widow of Germaine Lindsay, one of four Islamist suicide bombers who attacked the London transport network on July 7, 2005, killing 52 people.
Lewthwaite is the subject of an Interpol "red notice" warrant for her detention, issued at Kenya's request. She is wanted in Kenya on charges of being in possession of explosives and conspiracy to commit a felony dating back to December 2011.
Last week, there were reports that the British fugitive married suspected warlord Hassan Maalim Ibrahim who is also known as Sheikh Hassan.
He is a senior commander in the radical terror group al-Shabaab.
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