NAIROBI: Kenya’s interior minister has called on US news channel CNN to apologize for calling East Africa a “hotbed of terror” ahead of President Barack Obama’s visit on Friday.
It would make an apology “if it was civilized enough,” Joseph Nkaissery said at a news conference, according to the BBC. The hashtag #SomeoneTellCNN is trending worldwide as Kenyans condemned CNN, which has not yet commented.
Its report focused on the threat posed by Al-Qaeda linked Al-Shabab group. Obama was “not just heading to his father’s homeland, but to a region that’s a hotbed of terror,” said the CNN report.
With its headquarters in neighboring Somalia, Al-Shabab has carried out a spate of attacks in Kenya.
Nkaissery said Kenya was at risk of attack like any other country, but this did not turn it into a “hotbed of terror.” “I urge Kenyans to treat the @CNN report with the contempt it deserves,” he said, according to a tweet by Kenya’s privately owned Daily Nation newspaper.
CNN quoted security analyst Seth Jones analyst as saying that Al-Shabab could carry out an attack during Obama’s visit.
“Security for the president is likely to be very significant and that means what Al-Shabab is likely to do, based on what it has done very recently, is go for a soft target,” he said.
On Twitter, Kenyans criticized the report.
Kenya demands CNN apology over ‘hotbed of terror’ slur
Kenya demands CNN apology over ‘hotbed of terror’ slur
