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British government tightens travel warning on Kenya

A tourist rides on a camel's back at the Jomo Kenyatta public beach in Kenya's coastal city of Mombasa, March 24, 2013. REUTERS/Joseph Okanga

NAIROBI (Reuters) - Britain toughened its warning to citizens travelling to Kenya, telling them on Friday to avoid most coastal resorts including the region's main airport at Mombasa, another blow to the east African country's battered tourist industry. The previous advice told Britons to avoid a smaller portion of the coast, areas near the Somali border and parts of Nairobi, citing threats including Somali Islamist group Al Shabaab, who were behind the deadly raid on Nairobi's Westgate shopping mall in 2013. The new warning, published on a British government website, indicated only a small area of the coast was now safe to visit. The revision was issued just over a week after Kenyan officials urged visiting British Foreign Minister Philip Hammond to lift the advisory to help the struggling tourist industry, which has been hurt by a series of attacks. Kenya's government made no immediate comment on the new advice from Britain, one of its biggest source of tourists. Australia warned its citizens on Friday that terrorists might be planning an attack in Nairobi. The new British warning did not mention any specific threats of an attack. "We don’t let political or economic considerations determine our travel advice," said Stephen Burns, spokesman at the British High Commission in Nairobi. "Our advice is driven solely by our objective assessment of the level of risk to British nationals in Kenya. It is kept under constant review," he said. Kenya's government has criticised the warnings, saying its security forces are thwarting attacks. In Nairobi last week, Hammond said more security cooperation would be needed to help in any review of the British travel advisory. Diplomats have accused Kenyan authorities of not doing enough to share security information. Britain helps train and support Kenya's security forces. Other Western states, such as the United States which has also issued a travel advisory, offer similar support. Kenya, which offers palm-fringed beaches and safaris, has long relied on tourist dollars as a valuable source of foreign exchange. The downturn in visitors has put pressure on the shilling and forced some hotels out of business. In 2013, the al Shabaab attack on Nairobi's Westgate mall left 67 dead. The group has also carried out attacks since then on the coast and along the Somali border, killing scores. (Writing by Edmund Blair; Editing by Drazen Jorgic and Andrew Heavens)