NAIROBI, KENYA (ANS) -- Compass Direct News (CDN) is reporting that a constitutional battle to expand the scope of Islamic courts in the east African country of Kenya threatens to ignite religious tensions at a time when authorities are on high alert against Muslim extremists with ties to Somalia.

Authorities took note of sympathizers of Islamic extremists at protest in Nairobi, Kenya last month (Photo from Compass Direct website)

The CDN story says that constitutional provisions for Islamic or Kadhis’ courts have existed in Kenya since 1963, with their jurisdiction limited to the coastal province, but in a hotly debated draft constitution they would expand across the nation and their scope would increase.

“The proposed constitution has gathered enough momentum that 23 leaders of churches and Christian organizations released a statement on Feb. 1 asserting their opposition to any inclusion of such religious courts,” the story continued. “The heated debate erupted as security officials went on high alert when sympathizers of the Islamic terrorist al-Shabaab militia appeared in a protest in mid-January to demand the release of radical Muslim cleric, Abdullah Al-Faisal, who entered the country on Dec. 31.

“Al-Faisal had been imprisoned from 2004 to 2008 after a British court convicted him of soliciting murder and inciting hatred. Eyewitnesses to the protests in Nairobi told Compass one demonstrator clad in fatigues with his face masked by a balaclava waved the black flag of Somalia’s al-Qaeda-linked al Shabaab militia and passed his finger across his throat in a slitting gesture, taunting passersby.”

The story added that Al-Shabaab-affiliated operatives appear to have targeted Christians in Kenya, according to an Internet threat by a group claiming to align itself with the Islamic extremist militia seeking to topple the Transitional Federal Government in Somalia.

In an e-mail message entitled, “Fatwa for Infidels” to Christian and governmental leaders in Kenya, a group calling itself the Harakatul-Al-Shabaab-al Mujahidin threatened to kill Muslim converts to Christianity and those who help them.

For more information, go to: www.compassdirect.org

Dan Wooding, 69, is an award winning British journalist now living in Southern California with his wife Norma, to whom he has been married for 46 years. He is the founder and international director of ASSIST (Aid to Special Saints in Strategic Times) and the ASSIST News Service (ANS). He was, for ten years, a commentator, on the UPI Radio Network in Washington, DC., and now hosts the weekly “Front Page Radio” show on KWVE in Southern California and which is also carried on the Calvary Radio Network throughout the United States. The program is also aired in Great Britain on Calvary Chapel Radio UK. Wooding also a regular contributor to The Weekend Stand on the Crawford Broadcasting Network, and a host for His Channel Live, which is carried via the Internet to some 192 countries. He is the author of some 43 books. Two of the latest include his autobiography, “From Tabloid to Truth”, which is published by Theatron Books. To order a copy, press this link. Wooding, who was born in Nigeria of British missionary parents, also recently released “God’s Ambassadors in Japan” which is available at amazon.com.