By Standard Newspaper-Kenya

Controversial Jamaican cleric Abdullah al-Faisal arrived in Jamaica on Friday evening, marking an end to his controversial sojourn in Kenya.

The Jamaican press reported his arrival yesterday and published a photograph of the preacher as he exited the Norman Manley International Airport, carrying a hand luggage while pulling a suitcase.

The development is a sigh of relief to the Government that had been stuck with the controversial cleric since his arrest after attending evening prayers at a mosque in Mombasa on the eve of New Year.

On his arrival in Jamaica, al-Faisal was quizzed by Special Branch Investigators for nearly an hour, a Jamaican newspaper, The Gleaner, said on Saturday.

One investigator told the newspaper although al-Faisal had not broken any law in Jamaica, the police wanted to make sure where and how to find him "because of the international attention he has received".

"He is a very smart man. He can tell us he is going to be here or there but we want to make sure," the paper quoted an investigator who recorded the licence plate of the minibus that whisked al-Faisal from Airport.

The preacher refused to speak to reporters when he arrived in Jamaica, saying he was too tired. He also did not disclose the route his plane took but said his flight had been paid for by a South African company.

He had reportedly told investigators the trip cost $500,000. Immigration Minister Otieno Kajwang’ had said the Government required between $400,000 and $500,000 (Sh40 million) to hire a jet to deport the clergy to underscore the frustration by Kenyan authorities at the denial of transit visas by countries where commercial flights make stopovers.

But even though his deportation to his home country is now confirmed, the route the cleric took and the bill remain a puzzle.