US 'Concerned' Over Al Shabaab Recruiters

The White House has said it is concerned about attempts by Somalia's al Shabaab to recruit in the US, but has no confirmation that any American citizens were involved in the deadly siege at a shopping mall in Kenya.

The Somali militant group with ties to al Qaeda has claimed responsibility for the three-day stand-off in Nairobi in which at least 62 people have died.

Kenya Foreign Minister Amina Mohamed said "two or three Americans" were involved in the attack, along with one British woman.

Ms Mohamed said the Americans were 18 or 19 years old, of Somali and Arab origin, and lived "in Minnesota and one other place".

"That just goes to underline the global nature of the war that we're fighting," she said.

Her comments have been dismissed by an al Shabaab spokesman who said: "Those who describe the attackers as Americans and British are people who do not know what is going on."

State Department spokeswoman Jen Psaki said the department had "no definitive evidence of the nationalities or identities of the perpetrators at this time".

White House deputy national security advisor Ben Rhodes said US officials had seen "reports coming out of al Shabaab that indicate information along those lines".

"We do monitor very carefully and have for some time been concerned about efforts by al Shabaab to recruit Americans or US persons to come to Somalia.

"So this is an issue that has been tracked very closely by the US government and it's one that we'll be looking into in the days ahead."

US Representative from New York, Pete King, said al Shabaab has recruited up to 50 people from Somali-American communities in the US.

Mr King, a member of the House Homeland Security Committee, said in an ABC interview on Sunday that between 15 and 20 Somali-Americans remain active in the group.

He said the concern is that some may return and "use their abilities on the US".

Meanwhile, as Kenya security forces attempted to bring the deadly three-day siege to a conclusion , President Barack Obama said it was a "terrible outrage" and offered to provide law enforcement support to Kenya.

"I want to express personally my condolences not only to (Kenya's) President Kenyatta, who lost some family members in the attack, but to the Kenyan people," he said.

"We stand with them against this terrible outrage that's occurred."

Somali President Hassan Sheikh Mohamud told Ohio's Somali-American community that the Islamist group presents a threat not just to Africa.

"Today there are clear evidences that Shabaab is not a threat to Somalia and Somali people only," he said in a speech at Ohio State University.

"They are a threat to the continent of Africa, and the world at large."

Mr Mohamud called on people from Somalia who are living in Ohio to consider coming home to help rebuilding efforts.

Central Ohio has the second-largest number of Somalis in the US after the Minneapolis-St Paul, Minnesota, area.

Members of Minnesota's Somali community have condemned the attack.

Several groups called a news conference in solidarity with the victims and to warn about the dangers of extremism.

One Somali woman in Minnesota, Hodan Hassan, said her 17-year-old and 16-year-old nieces were injured in the attacks.

She said the older one is in critical condition with severe leg injuries, while the other was not as seriously hurt. They are Canadian citizens who moved to Nairobi three years ago.

Ms Hassan said it would be sad if Somali-Americans were responsible but she doubts it is true.

Meanwhile, three alleged members of al Shabaab appeared in New York accused of being part of an "elite suicide unit".

The three had links to al Qaeda operatives in East Africa "who sought to carry out attacks against the United States and Western interests in that region", prosecutors wrote in a letter filed on September 18.

They were captured in Africa allegedly trying to reach Yemen, where they were planning to meet up with al Qaeda operatives.

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