The White Widow

Various reports about the Kenya mall attack pointed to a white woman wearing a veil, giving orders to Kenya mall attackers in Arabic.

One soldier told the Daily Mail that the attack was "all being controlled by this muzungu woman. She is ordering them what to do." Muzungu is a Swahili term for white woman.

From other reports, survivors testified that indeed a veiled woman was giving orders to the al-Shabaab militants as these militants went about the bloody Kenya mall attack. Other survivors stated that this white woman was among the hostage-takers.

On the other hand, the police expressed their openness to the possibility that this controversial white woman was among the hostages used by the militants as front to mislead the Kenyan authorities.

However, Al-Shabaab, who claimed responsibility of the Kenya mall attack, had posted a conspicuous tweet to its official Twitter account:

"Sherafiyah lewthwaite aka Samantha is a vrave [sic] lady! were happier to have her in our ranks!"

The Twitter account had long been suspended.

The White Widow behind the Kenya Mall Attack

Samantha Lewthwaite

Samantha Lewthwaite, according to an article from The Herald Sun, is a bright English girl, who loves pop music and David Beckham.

She married a 7/7 bomber and became the most feared female terrorists in history.

Lewthwaite is a daughter of a British soldier. She grew up in a middle class family from Aylesbury, Buckinghamshire in south east England. She had a degree in religion and politics from the School of Oriental and African Studies in Russel Square, London.

Her typical teenage life changed when she met Jamaican-born British Muslim Jermaine Lindsay when she was just 17. She converted to Islam when she was 18 and married Lindsay when she was 19.

Lindsay was one among the four suicide bombers responsible to the explosion of Tube trains and bus terminals in London.

The white widow behind the Kenya mall attack

Samantha Lewthwaite, the "white widow"

The widow of suicide bomber Lindsay, Lewthwaite, is now the first target of investigation as police believed she was the brains behind the horrifying Kenya mall attack.

"Sherafiyah lewthwaite aka Samantha" referred to as by Al- Shabaab in their tweet is believed to be no other than the white woman now popularly dubbed as the "white widow."

She was also known to al-Qaeda as dada muzungu.

Lewthwaite had been escaping authorities for years now, travelling to Somalia, Kenya and Tanzania. She had been successfully concealing her appearance through wearing Islamic dress and veils.

According to a report from the Daily Mail, Lewthwaite had trained a group of female suicide bombers in Somalia and another group to make explosives. She had also been quoted saying that she dreamt of her daughters to be suicide bombers as well.