Source: CNN
(CNN) — British-born Samantha Lewthwaite was once seen as a kind of victim of the July 2005 London terror attacks — the pregnant wife of one of the suicide bombers who killed 52 people, now left alone to care for her children.
She condemned the attacks, but then vanished. Now, Kenyan authorities say, she is the infamous “White Widow,” alleged to be a supporter and financier of people linked to the Somali terror group Al-Shabaab.
Reports that a white woman was among the terrorists who stormed Nairobi, Kenya’s upscale Westgate shopping mall on Saturday — an operation for which Al-Shabaab has claimed responsibility — have prompted a slew of media speculation that she might have been involved.
But no official confirmation has been given. A senior Kenyan government official said a woman was among the attackers. Yet it is “impossible” based on the government’s photo evidence (and before a forensics examination is complete) to determine if this woman is Lewthwaite.