Kenya holds Germans, Dutch for suspected terrorism

NAIROBI (Reuters) - Two German men and a Dutch woman who entered Kenya as journalists have been arrested on suspicion of terrorism after being found with photos of "vital installations", police said on Friday.

"Although they entered the country as journalists they have been conducting themselves in a suspicious manner," police spokesman Eric Kiraithe told reporters.

"We are investigating materials recovered from them. Some of them include photographs of vital installations," he added, without giving further details.

"The suspects ... have been arrested with suspicion of terrorist activities," Kiraithe said.

Kiraithe said the two Germans -- Gerd Uwe Hauth and Andrej Hermlin -- and Fleur Van Dissel, a Dutch national, were arrested at Jomo Kenyatta International Airport.

The German and Dutch foreign ministries confirmed the arrests. "The embassy is in touch with local authorities to try to ensure they are released quickly," a German foreign ministry spokesman said.

A spokeswoman for the Dutch foreign ministry said their embassy had been in contact with Van Dissel to help her deal with the Kenyan authorities.

She added that the Dutch ambassador had spoken to the Kenyan foreign minister to ensure she would be treated well.

Hermlin, a musician known in Germany as "the king of swing," is the son of well-known East German writer Stephan Hermlin. He is married to a Kenyan woman.

Kiraithe said the three raised suspicions after they changed vehicles four times on the trip from Nairobi to the airport.

But Salim Lone, spokesman for the opposition Orange Democratic Movement (ODM), said Van Dissel had been making a documentary about its leader Raila Odinga, which was aired on local television a few days before a December 27 election.

"I am astounded to hear they have been arrested. I know Fleur has been working on a documentary on Odinga for at least five years, while Andrej Hermlin is a famous musician," Lone told Reuters.

He said Van Dissel was working on another documentary on Odinga, a former political prisoner who accuses President Mwai Kibaki -- who narrowly won the vote -- of stealing victory.

Hundreds of foreign reporters descended on Nairobi for the polls and many more arrived after Kibaki's re-election triggered political and ethnic violence killing around 650 people.

(Additional reporting by Madeline Chambers in Berlin)

(Editing by Tim Cocks)