Man shot dead and bride kidnapped on Kenya honeymoon

A BRITISH man was killed and his new wife kidnapped in a horrific attack during their honey-moon in Kenya yesterday.

The man, said to be a writer, died of a single shot to the chest when defending his wife after attackers burst into the beachfront cottage in a luxury holiday resort on the island of Lamu.

His wife was abducted by a group of six men and taken on to a motor boat.

Police and Kenya naval forces mounted an air, sea and land search and rescue operation to try to find the woman, who is believed to be in her 40s.

A Foreign Office spokesman said: “We can confirm that two British nationals were attacked overnight at a beach resort north of Lamu, near the Kenya-Somalia border. One was killed and another kidnapped. We are working closely with the Kenyan authorities to establish further details.

“We have deployed a consular team from our High Commission in Nairobi and are offering all possible support to the family of those involved. Our thoughts are with them at this difficult time.

“We are working to secure the safe and swift release of the British national who has been kidnapped and ask those involved to show compassion and release the individual immediately.”

There were concerns the kidnappers may be connected to Islamist groups operating from Somalia – but local police played down such suggestions.

Police commissioner Matthew Iteere said: “So far we are treating it as a bandit attack. We’ve not linked it to terrorism. We’ve not received any hint pointing at a terror group.”

The attack took place at Kiwayu Safari Village, a remote beach in the far north of Kenya’s Indian Ocean coast, less than 30 miles from the Somali border.

The couple arrived at the resort on Saturday afternoon, and were understood to have planned to stay there at least four nights. They spent the previous week visiting the Maasai Mara game reserve in south-western Kenya.

It is understood the couple are both writers and that they were the only guests at the resort on the night of the attack.

The lodge has just 18 “rustic-luxe” cottages all constructed of wood and woven thatch, which sit on a private beach overlooking a secluded bay.

It is known as a favourite destination for wealthy tourists. Tracey Emin, the artist, Imelda Staunton, the actress, and Sir Mick Jagger are all former guests.

The website for the resort, which was taken offline yesterday, said it offers “security and safety 24 hours a day”. The site adds: “Our relationship with the local community, its fishermen and the local authorities is positive and mutually beneficial. We regularly review our security and safety to ensure it is both comprehensive and current.”

The lodge, which charges £280 per person per night, was built by an Italian big game hunter and his British wife in 1973. It is still managed by the same family.

“They’re well aware that they could have been targeted like this, and they have always taken security very seriously,” said another hotel manager in Lamu, an island popular with western tourists. “It’s a tragedy, really.”

The stronghold of al-Shabaab, Somalia’s al-Qaeda-linked insurgents, lies at Kismayo town, less than 150 miles north, over the border from Kiwayu.

Diplomats and security officials are concerned that it will become extremely difficult to rescue the woman if she is taken over the Somali border.

Unlike Somalia’s pirates, who kidnap for ransom only, Islamists in the country’s south are more interested in anti-western political statements.

The Foreign Office advises against all but essential travel to within 20 miles of the Somali border.

There have been previous attacks by Somali militia into Kenya. Three aid workers were kidnapped in July 2009, and two western nuns in November 2008.

“There remains a high threat of clashes between the Kenyan military and armed Somali groups along the border,” the Foreign Office said. “There have been recent attacks on the border town of Mandera by Somali militias.”

Attacks on visitors are, however, rare in Kenya, which welcomed more than one million tourists in 2010 and is famed for its safaris and beach resorts.

In 2008, British missionary Brian Thorp, 77, was murdered during a robbery on the island of Lamu.