'Miracle baby' pastor meets media

Gilbert Deya speaks to the media in Glasgow

A controversial pastor who police in Kenya want to extradite in connection with an alleged child smuggling ring has held a news conference in Glasgow.

UK-based evangelist Gilbert Deya claims to help infertile couples conceive "miracle babies".

But 20 children were later taken into care after raids by Kenyan police.

The pastor denies involvement in child trafficking and his lawyer says his client will not receive a fair trial if he is extradited to Kenya.

He claims to have made infertile women pregnant through prayer.

Police investigation

However, DNA tests showed that none of the 20 children taken into care were biologically related to the women who had claimed to be their mothers.

More than 20 couples in Kenya have now come forward claiming their babies were abducted from hospital at birth.

The police investigation involves suspects in Kenya, Britain, Ghana, Nigeria and Uganda.

Gilbert Deya denies involvement in child trafficking

The pastor told BBC Radio Scotland that the baby trafficking allegations did not make sense.

"I am a figure in the city of Nairobi. I have been a star preacher on television.

"How can I go to the maternity hospital with my wife and steal a baby? These are all lies," he said.

Lawyer Aamer Anwar said it was not his role to defend or deny the allegations of child trafficking and miracle babies.

"That is a matter for the Kenyan authorities," he stressed.

Human rights

"Our sole concern is the issue of extradition and whether Mr Deya will receive a fair trial in Kenya.

"He does not believe he will do so because of religious and political persecution and that is a matter which the courts in this country will decide, whether he should be extradited or not."

He said Amnesty International and other human rights organisations had expressed concerns about the chances of receiving a fair trial in Kenya.

Mr Anwar also claimed that the case had received prejudicial publicity.

In a statement, Scotland Yard said: "The Metropolitan Police Service child abuse investigation command is currently reviewing allegations relating to child trafficking between the UK and Kenya.

"We are liaising with the Immigration Service and the authorities in Kenya as is normal in a case of this nature."

A spokesman for the Immigration Service said he could not comment on individual cases but pointed out that general extradition arrangements were in place between the UK and Kenya.

The UK took these obligations seriously, he added.