We all know that Tuh-RAY-Zuh is from Mozambique (in addition to being quite the philanthropist).

And, we know that Alex Polier has "fled" to Africa, specifically Kenya.

Alex and her parents have issued complete denials. OK, they sound a bit like Soviet-era confessions, but, maybe that's just AP style or something.

This is despite earlier reports that Alex's parents had unkind words to say about Kerry.

Now, 24 to 28 year-old Alex is holed up in Kenya, reportedly with fiance/spouse/boyfriend/friend of the family/whatever Yaron/Yuron Schwartzman/Scwartzman/whatever.

What do we know about Yaron? Well, here's an article about someone who's apparently his father:

Kenyan investors have expressed confidence in the investment climate in Rwanda. A team from the Sameer Group of Companies expressed confidence in the country's leadership and investment climate, and said they were interested in investing in the tea, banking, construction and energy sectors.

Speaking after they paid a courtesy call on the President of the Republic of Rwanda, H.E. Paul Kagame, Mr. Joseph Schwartzman said, "We are have come from Kenya to look at investment in various sectors including tea, banking, construction and energy. We are very impressed with the leadership of this country, and have all the confidence and positive attitude which investors need. "

Also speaking after the meeting, the head of the Rwanda Investment Promotion Agency (RIPA) Mr. Bonaventure Niyibizi said, "Most people are impressed with the situation in Rwanda. They find that Rwanda provides an excellent investment climate. We have institutions and policies that have been created to help investors. These investors from Kenya are interested in various fields, specifically tea, banking, construction, and in establishing an export processing zone. This is an exploratory visit for them to look at investment opportunities in the country."

Mr. Schwartzman was accompanied by Mr. Naushad N. Merali and Ambassador Hameed A. Kidwai, both senior directors with the Sameer Group.

Googling the names from this article and squaring them with the allegations made here are left as an exercise to our redoubtable press corps:

Alex Polier was, as of 5pm Kenya time, hiding out in Nairobi. She and her fiance, Yaron (sp) Schwartzman were staying at the home of his parents Joseph and Hannah. The London Evening Standard reported last night that she was already in the UK. They were wrong, although there is a possibility she may have flown later on last night -- but I think it is more likely she was still here.

Alex and Yaron were moved from the family's palacial home in the upmarket Nairobi suburb of Lavington late last night to avoid the press. They could be anywhere in Kenya -- at the coast or on Safari.

Yaron is believed to work in Nairobi at a company called Film Struck Studios or possible Film Studios. The company is owned by daddy. He is believed to move in a circle of friends known as the "cokehead set". Now there is more than one cokehead set in Kenya, which attracts old wealth, new wealth, British Aristocracy and some of the international gliterrati.

Daddy is the chairman of an engineering company called H Young, which is owned by former cabinet minister Nicholas Biwott. Biwott is a nasty piece of work. Former President Daniel arap Moi's right hand man, a Scotland Yard enquiry named him the prime suspect in the 1990 murder of Foreign Minister Robert Ouko. He plundered the Kenyan treasury and is known here as "the Godfather", "Mr 15 percent" (the cuts he took when awarding tenders to multinational companies) or "The Total Man" (he owns Total Kenya). Daddy is also business partner of Naushad Merali, another Moi frontman, a multimillionaire and probably Kenya's richest Asian.

This would suggest our man Yaron mixes with the 20 and 30-somethings who are the children or spouses of Kenya's leading criminals. The senior members of this set are Biwott's Israeli wife Rita and his son in law Charles Field-Marshall, a controversial Kenya-based Canadian businessman.

Even close friends of Yaron say they know nothing of the relationship with Kerry -- mainly because no-one really knows Alex.

The British press are finding it difficult to track her down -- they are attempting to "doorstep" her. This is a tricky process in nairobi where houses sit on 5-acre plots, cannot be seen from the road, are protected by big black gates, alarms, electric fences, a host of security guards and their dogs.

It has not helped that the British press were also watching the wrong house.

It's just a coincidence that Tuh-RAY-Zuh is from Africa, but there might be something to Polier's connections and their current denials. Or, there might be nothing there at all and Drudge was misled.

UPDATE: In response to the first comment: Either the Sun (UK) newspaper was inventing things, or someone got to Alex Polier's parents. One moment they're calling John Kerry a sleazeball, the next moment they're pledging to vote for him. Hey, maybe they can say he's a sleazeball out of one side of their mouths and pledge to vote for him out of the other, but I rather doubt it.

But, like I said and like Howard Dean might say, these are just rumors and they're probably false.

Also, to the great extent that Bubba was a sleazeball, he at least was an American sleazeball. In a white-trash, double-wide, Hot Springs kinda way.

To the extent that we can imagine Kerry being a sleazeball, it's a much more international form of sleaze, complete with an African-Portuguese wife, sleazy ex-pats, interns flying off to Africa, and the like.

FYI, there's a set of links to Polier news reports here.