Kenya's bid to have Al-Shabaab formally blacklisted by the United Nations Security Council as a terrorist group may take a little longer.
In August, Nairobi's attempts flopped after the US and Somalia successfully opposed Kenya's application, leading to confusions in Nairobi.
At an Interpol conference in Santiago, Chile, Director of Criminal Investigations George Kinoti on Monday said the efforts have been renewed.
“Kenya continues to push for Al-Shabaab to be declared a terrorist organization,” he said.
But in an interview with the Nation, US Ambassador Kyle McCarter said blacklisting Al-Shabaab would create a humanitarian crisis in Somalia.
According to him, Al-Shabaab has already been designated as a terrorist group, adding that the US will not endorse Kenya's bid to have it done in compliance with UN Resolution 1267.
"We formally designated al-Shabaab as a Foreign Terrorist Organisation over a decade ago in 2008. But we have not done it under UN Resolution 1267 the way Kenya wants, which would require us to withdraw humanitarian aid to Somalia.
"We believe it is not humane to withdraw humanitarian aid in Somalia. But the US has put its people to support [Amisom] bid to defeat al-Shabaab," he said.
The group has been targeting Kenya both within and outside, killing over 400 soldiers so far. A fortnight ago, Al-Shabaab killed 11 GSU officers in Dadaab constituency.