From: Biniam Tekle (biniamt@dehai.org)
Date: Tue Jul 13 2010 - 12:59:25 EDT
http://af.reuters.com/article/worldNews/idAFTRE66A2ED20100713?sp=true Uganda
finds suicide vest as death toll rises
Tue Jul 13, 2010 10:51am GMT
By Jeremy Clarke and Elias Biryabarema
KAMPALA (Reuters) - Ugandan police have found an unexploded suicide vest and
made a number of arrests after coordinated bomb blasts ripped through two
bars and killed at least 76 soccer fans watching the World Cup final on
Sunday.
Somali al Shabaab Islamists linked to al Qaeda said on Monday they had
carried out the attacks, but an official from the militant group said on
Tuesday there had been no suicide bombers involved.
The vest was found on Monday in Makindye, a suburb of Kampala, and was
consistent with evidence found at the other blast sites in the capital,
Inspector General of Police Kale Kayihura told reporters.
Ugandan police said the vest was designed so it could be planted, rather
than worn, and be used as an improvised bomb.
"Rage blessed those who carried the attack and expected a long life for
them. That shows there was no suicide bomb. These were planted," a man who
identified himself as Yonis, assistant to al Shabaab spokesman Sheikh Ali
Mohamud Rage, told Reuters by telephone.
Coordinated attacks are a hallmark of al Qaeda and groups linked to Osama
bin Laden's militant network. If confirmed to be the work of al Shabaab,
they would be the first time the militants have taken their push for power
internationally.
Analysts have questioned whether they might have been helped or funded by
elements in Uganda, or foreign militants within al Shabaab itself.
"Somalis or foreigners, the effect is nonetheless the same. It is the
foreign elements that now dominate the al Shabaab project," Abdi Samatar, a
Somalia expert at the University of Minnesota, said.
Kayihura gave no further details on how many suspects had been detained or
where they were from. He also revised up the death toll to 76 from 74.
"NO PEACE TO KEEP"
The al Shabaab militants have threatened more attacks unless Uganda and
Burundi withdraw their peacekeepers from the African Union peacekeeping
force in Somalia (AMISOM). They control of large areas the south and centre
of the anarchic country.
But regional bloc, IGAD, said it would not cower in the face of threats and
would continue to support the Western-backed government in Somalia.
"We shall continue with our plans to increase peacekeepers in Somalia to
over 8,000 and we hope to have the extra troops in the country by the second
week of August," executive secretary Mahboud Maalim told journalists in the
Kenyan capital Nairobi.
Last week IGAD members Kenya, Uganda, Sudan, Ethiopia, Somalia and Djibouti
said they eventually wanted 20,000 troops from the AU and United Nations
deployed in Somalia.
Uganda's opposition Forum for Democratic Change (FDC) party urged President
Yoweri Museveni to pull his peacekeepers out and said it planned a
withdrawal if it won elections in 2011.
"There is no peace to keep in Somalia and Uganda has no strategic interest
there. We're just sacrificing our children for nothing," FDC spokesman
Wafula Oguttu told Reuters.
Analysts say any sustained bombing campaign would damage Uganda's investment
climate, but a one-off attack was unlikely to deter major companies such as
British hydrocarbons explorer Tullow Oil from investing.
Foreign direct investment into east Africa's third largest economy has
surged, driven by oil exploration along the western border with Democratic
Republic of Congo.
An American was among the dead, and the U.S. State Department said it had
three FBI agents on the ground collecting evidence. An additional team was
on standby to deploy.
Opolot said there was no suggestion an African Union summit to be hosted by
Uganda this month would be cancelled following the bombings.
----[This List to be used for Eritrea Related News Only]----