Uganda Police Say They Arrested Key July 11 Terror Attack Suspect

 

First Published Tuesday, 22 February 2011 02:10 pm - © 2011 Dow Jones

KAMPALA, Uganda -(Dow Jones)- Ugandan officials say they have arrested a key al shabab operative in East Africa, Sulemani Nyamandondo, a Tanzanian suspected of helping plan the attacks in Kampala during the World Cup finals that killed at least 79 people, including one American, the Ugandan police said Tuesday.
Nyamandondo, is a key member of the Al Qaeda-inspired al Shabab militants, who has been on the run since August last year, said Abbas Byakagaba, the head of the anti-terrorism unit of the Ugandan Police.
The al shabab, who are battling to topple Somalia's weak transitional government claimed responsibility for the July attacks at a bar and rugby club as well as an Ethiopian restaurant popular with foreigners.
"He is one of the key people who smuggled the bombs into the country," he said adding that Nyamandondo was extradited from Tanzania last week after being arrested by Tanzanian authorities.
The trial of Nyamandondo, together with more than 20 other suspects, in is expected to start later this year.
Ugandan security officials say that the Al Qaeda's East African cell planned and coordinated the attacks, aided by Ugandan youths who have been trained in terrorist camps in Somalia.
The al shabab warned of similar attacks during the election period but Byakagaba said that the attacks have since been averted due to the improved security in Uganda.
Ugandan troops form the backbone of the at least 9,200-strong African peace keepers in war-torn Somalia. The al shabab said they carried out the attacks for revenge on Uganda for sending troops into Somalia.
The suspects are facing 89 counts of murder, attempted murder and terrorism for the attacks. Among them is the suspected number two Al Qaeda operative in East Africa, Omar Awadh Omar and a Kenyan human rights activist, al-Amin Kimathi, as well as Issa Luyima, a 30-year-old Ugandan librarian who confessed to coordinating and helping to carry out the attacks.
Plans to execute the attacks initially hit a snag in April, authorities said, after Muhamoud Mugisha, the al Qaeda-trained Ugandan initially tapped to carry out the Kampala bombings, was arrested on a customs charge. Cell leaders chose Luyima to replace him.
-By Nicholas Bariyo, contributing to Dow Jones Newswires, 256 75 262 4615;
bariyonic@yahoo.co.uk