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Kenyan security forces are close to ending a Nairobi shopping mall siege, Interior Minister Joseph ole Lenku said on Monday, with Islamist attackers still fighting but left with no way out of the complex.

“We think the operation will come to an end soon,” Lenku told a press conference.

“We are in control of all the floors, the terrorists are running and hiding in some stores… there is no room for escape.”

At least two of the gunmen were killed in the assault Monday morning and “several injured,” Lenku added.

Somalia’s Al-Qaeda-linked Shabaab insurgents have claimed the attack, which began on Saturday, but Kenyan army chief Julius Karangi said the gunmen had different nationalities, without giving further details.

“They are from different countries. We have sufficient intelligence this is global terrorism,” Karangi said.

Several foreign fighters, including Somalis with dual nationalities, are members of the Shabaab force.

Contrary to some earlier rumours, Lenku denied that any of the insurgents were women.

“There are no women, all the terrorists are men. Some of them had dressed like women,” he said.

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{{Former Kenya President Mwai Kibaki appeared in a Nyeri High court on Monday in connection with a civil suit over a property involving a company he originally co-owned with eight others.}}

The retired President could however not testify as the suit was adjourned to give the parties involved more time to prepare.

The former President appeared before Justice Anthony Ombwayo of the Land and Environment court ready to give evidence after he was named as one of the defendants in the suit filed by Mathingira Wholesalers, owner of a commercial property in Nyeri town.

The retired President had applied through senior counsel Gibson Kamau Kuria to be allowed to testify before the court due to his nature of engagement but the judge declined over lack of documentation to support the application.

The senior counsel had asked the court to allow the former President to give his evidence on priority basis although there were still pleadings pending to be filed by both parties.

However, the directors of Mathingira who are the plaintiff in the suit through their lawyer Lucy Mwai objected to the application before all papers are filed.

The case was adjourned until October 14 this year when it will be heard.

It is the first time that the former President is appearing in court over a civil matter since he retired early this year.

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{{The streets of Khartoum on Sunday witnessed heightened security presence as gas stations updated their fuel prices to reflect today’s directives issued by the oil ministry by which all grades of gasoline saw a price increase.}}

While the measure was largely anticipated for months due to statements made by government officials on their intentions to cut fuel subsidies on the grounds that it is burdening the country’s finances, some gas stations asked for police assistance to restrain irate customers.

Security officers have also rounded up several opposition youth figures which included Sideeg Youssef (Sudan Communist Party); Mohamed Abdel-Moniem and Munzir Abul-Meaali (Arab Nasserite Unionist Party); Mohamed Hassan Boushi (Baath Party); Omer Dafalla (National Umma Party).

Furthermore, vehicles belonging to the National Intelligence and Security Services (NISS) were reportedly seen near the residence of National Consensus Forces (NCF) chairman Farouk Abu Essa while social media sites claimed that security agents stormed the home of Baath party leading figure Mohamed Diaa al-Deen.

Last year certain subsidies on food and fuel were partially lifted drawing rare but small anti-government demonstrations.

In Khartoum, the Sudanese president Omer Hassan al-Bashir held a two-hour press conference which he devoted primarily to defending the move to cut subsidies and reiterated his earlier arguments that most of these subsidies goes into the pockets of the wealthy population at the expense of the poor ones.

Bashir further asserted that some neighboring countries benefit from the subsidies as a result of smuggling adding that it is hard to control the borders to prevent that due to its length. He further said that some government officers allow the smuggling in return for bribes.

The Sudanese leader emphasized that the decision was made collectively by the government and rejected criticism directed at the Finance and National Economy Minister Ali Mahmood Abdel-Rasool on the assumption that he is behind this economic package.

He dismissed fears that this move will lead to an ‘Arab Spring’ in Sudan and noted that some people rushed to the market to buy goods and stock it at home fearing a big price increase.

But Bashir said that this is only temporary and that those who stocked goods at their home would seek to get rid of it later “at a loss”.

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