FILE - Michael Adebolajo, front, shouts slogans as Muslims march in London in a protest against the arrest of 6 people in anti-terror raids, in this Friday April 27, 2007 file photo. Adebolajo has been identified as one of the two men who attacked and killed a British soldier on a street in south London on Wednesday May 22 2013. (AP Photo/Kirsty Wigglesworth, file) MAGAZINES OUT
FILE - Michael Adebolajo, front, shouts slogans as Muslims march in London in a protest against the arrest of 6 people in anti-terror raids, in this Friday April 27, 2007 file photo. Adebolajo has been identified as one of the two men who attacked and killed a British soldier on a street in south London on Wednesday May 22 2013. (AP Photo/Kirsty Wigglesworth, file) MAGAZINES OUT
In this undated image released Thursday May 23, 2013, by the British Ministry of Defence, showing Lee Rigby known as ?Riggers? to his friends, who is identified by the MOD as the serving member of the armed forces who was attacked and killed by two men in the Woolwich area of London on Wednesday. The Ministry web site included the statement "It is with great sadness that the Ministry of Defence must announce that the soldier killed in yesterday's incident in Woolwich, South East London, is believed to be Drummer Lee Rigby of 2nd Battalion The Royal Regiment of Fusiliers." (AP Photo / MOD)
Police search team leave the scene of a terror attack in Woolwich, southeast London, Thursday, May 23, 2013. A member of armed forces was attacked and killed by two men on Wednesday. (AP Photo/Sang Tan)
People heckle the Mayor of London, Boris Johnson, not pictured, as he leaves the scene of a terror attack in Woolwich, southeast London, Thursday, May 23, 2013. A member of armed forces was attacked and killed by two men on Wednesday. (AP Photo/Sang Tan)
Family members of murdered British soldier Lee Rigby, from left to right, his mother Lyn, stepfather Ian, and his wife Rebecca Rigby, as his stepfather reads a statement during a press conference at the Regimental HQ of his unit, the Royal Regiment of Fusiliers at Bury in Greater Manchester, England, Friday May 24, 2013. Ian Rigby thanked people for their support and including the tribute "You fought bravely and with honour died". Drummer Lee Rigby had served in Afghanistan and was attached to the Regimental Recruiting Team when he was hacked to death in broad daylight on Wednesday afternoon in Woolwich, south-east London. Two suspects were shot and arrested at the scene and remain in police custody. (AP Photo/Dave Thompson)
NAIROBI, Kenya (AP) ? A suspect in the savage killing of a British soldier on a London street was arrested in Kenya in 2010 near the East African country's border with Somalia, an anti-terrorism police official said Sunday.
Michael Adebolajo was believed to have been preparing to train and fight with the al-Qaida-linked Somali militant group al-Shabab in 2010 when he was arrested with five others, Kenya's anti-terrorism police unit head Boniface Mwaniki told The Associated Press.
Mwaniki said that the suspect was then deported, however, Kenya's government spokesman said he was arrested under a different name and handed to British authorities.
"Kenya's government arrested Michael Olemendis Ndemolajo. We handed him to British security agents in Kenya and he seems to have found his way to London and mutated to Michael Adebolajo," spokesman Muthui Kariuki said. "The Kenyan government cannot be held responsible for what happened to him after we handed him to British authorities."
Kariuki said Adebolajo was traveling on a British passport, but he could not confirm if it was authentic.
When asked about reports that British embassy officials were involved, a Foreign Office statement said: "We can confirm a British national was arrested in Kenya in 2010. The Foreign and Commonwealth Office provided consular assistance as normal for British nationals."
British soldier Lee Rigby, 25, was run over and stabbed with knives in the Woolwich area in southeast London on Wednesday afternoon as he was walking near his barracks.
Adebolajo, 28, and Michael Adebowale, 22, are suspected in the killing and remained under armed guard in separate London hospitals after police shot them at the scene.
The gruesome scene was captured by witnesses' cellphones, and a video picked up by British media showed one of the suspects, with bloodied hands, making political statements and warning of more violence as the soldier lay on the ground behind him.
Hardline Muslim leaders have identified the man in the video as Adebolajo, an Islam convert who allegedly used to take part in London demonstrations organized by British radical group al-Muhajiroun. The group catapulted to notoriety after the Sept. 11 attacks by organizing an event to celebrate the airplane hijackers, and was banned in Britain in 2010.
Anti-terrorism head Mwaniki rejected allegations that Adebolajo was tortured while in custody, but said the unit would further investigate.
Adebolajo's friend asserted in a BBC interview that Adebolajo became withdrawn after he allegedly suffered abuse by Kenyan security forces during interrogation in prison there. Mwaniki said at the time, there were no indications of torture or abuse.
Mwaniki said dozens of foreign youth are arrested every year attempting to cross the Kenyan border to join al-Shabab, which claims to be fighting a jihad or holy war against the Somali government and African Union forces.
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Associated Press reporter Sylvia Hui in London contributed to this report.
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