Imam warns of 'undeclared war' between US, Israel and Islam

American and Israeli tourists should avoid Islamic countries in the wake of the latest terrorist attacks, a leading Kenyan Islamic cleric warned yesterday. "There is an undeclared war between their countries and the Muslim world," said Sheikh Ali Shee, chairman of the Council of Imams. "It is not good for them to come until the [Palestinian] problem is solved."

Kenya is a favourite holiday destination for many Britons, particularly over Christmas. Yesterday, the British High Commission warned nationals of an "increased terrorist threat", particularly in the bars, restaurants and hotels of the capital, Nairobi.

Sheikh Shee is a controversial figure. On Friday a French newsletter, Intelligence Online, said it "seemed impossible" that last week's Paradise Hotel and Israeli airliner attacks could have happened without his support. But he hotly denied the allegation. "We have nothing to do with al-Qa'ida and we have nothing to do with those bombs," he said. "We are condemning them very clearly."

But the sheikh, sitting under a fan in his side-street office in a neatly pressed white robe, said Israeli and US policy towards Palestine should also be described as "terrorism". And he would refuse to help investigators from the FBI or Mossad, Israel's spy agency. "We will never co-operate with these people," he said. "They are criminals. This Bush is the worst leader ever. He is a man of war."

Kenya's internal security minister Julius Sunkuli admitted police had no leads. An American woman and her Spanish husband, arrested when they tried to check out of a hotel two hours after the attacks, were released yesterday. The authorities conceded 10 other detainees, from Pakistan and Somalia, also had no link with Thursday's atrocities. Tracking down the terrorists will not be easy. They would have found it easy to blend into Mombasa, a chaotic, sweltering port city with winding streets and a large Muslim population. It is not a city of extremists: many women refuse to wear a veil, and intermarriage between Muslims and other traditions is increasingly common.

But although most people say they abhor violence, economic decline has fostered support for Osama bin Laden among some young Muslims. "Anyone who is an underdog, who fights against authority, is a hero, especially for the young people, many of whom are unemployed," said Najib Balala, a popular former mayor. He believes Kenya's notoriously poor security may explain why it has been the staging post for international terrorism twice in the past four years.

Police and immigration officials are underpaid and often corrupt. And although security at airports and ports was tightened in the wake of 11 September, it has slipped again. The porous border with neighbouring Somalia, where the US accuses the radical group al-Ittihad al-Islami of supporting al-Qa'ida, is a particular worry.

"It's so easy to sneak across the border in a small dhow [wooden-hulled sailing ship]," Mr Balala said. "And once in the country, you can buy an ID, a passport, anything you like, if the price is right."