Nairobi (Sunatimes) Kenyan police have arrested a Muslim cleric on a U.N. sanctions list over his alleged support of an Al-Qaeda-linked militant group in neighboring Somalia, a rights activist said Friday.

The arrest signals the start of a Kenyan government clampdown on alleged supporters of the militants, who are blamed for a string of kidnappings on Kenyan soil.

Al-Amin Kimathi of the Kenya-based Muslim Human Rights Forum said Imam Hassan Mahat Omar and two doctors who run a clinic in the predominantly Somali neighborhood of Eastleigh were arrested Thursday.

The doctors Dr. Ali Omar Salim and Dr. Adan Hassan Hillow were charged in court Friday for being members of Somalia’s Al-Shabaab militant group, which is outlawed in Kenya. But the other detainee never appeared in court.

Lawyer Chacha Mwita, who represented the two, said they are Kenyans and own the Afwan Medical clinic, which was accused in a July U.N. report of financially assisting Al-Shabaab.

The two doctors pleaded not guilty to charges of engaging in an organized criminal activity by being Al-Shabaab members.

Chief Magistrate Gilbert Mutembei allowed police to hold the suspects in custody for two more days to complete investigations.

Mwita, a human rights lawyer, said he had been trying to trace Hassan Mahat Omar but police refused divulge his whereabouts.

A senior policeman confirmed that Omar had been arrested but did not divulge when or if he would be charged. He asked for anonymity because he was not authorized to speak to the press.

He fears police are planning deport Omar to Somalia since they have not charged him within 24 hours of arrest as required by constitution. Omar’s nationality is unclear, though the U.N. describes him as possibly being Ethiopian.

The Kenyan government sent troops into Somalia last weekend, saying they intend to attack the key city held by the insurgency and wipe them out as a fighting force.

By Fadumo Farah