One of the suspected masterminds of last month’s bomb attacks on Uganda’s capital Kampala said on Thursday his anger at the US spurred his involvement in the plot, adding that it was intended to kill US citizens.
Issa Ahmed Luyima, 33, a former librarian, was one of four Ugandan suspects paraded in front of journalists by the east African nation’s Chieftancy of Military Intelligence before he made a public confession.
“I was reluctant to pick on Ugandans. My rage was with the Americans whom I deemed responsible for all the suffering of Muslims around the world ... we thought they are the ones who planted the TGF [Transitional Federal Government] in Somalia,” Luyima said.
He said he regretted the loss of Ugandan lives when three bombs ripped through a bar at a rugby club and an Ethiopian restaurant where soccer fans were watching the World Cup final on July 11.
Somalia’s al-Shabaab Islamic militants later claimed responsibility, saying the attacks were revenge for Uganda’s deployment of peacekeeping troops in Somalia.
Ugandan soldiers form the backbone of the 6,300 strong African Union Mission in Somalia force.
Ugandan Police say at least two of the bombs were detonated by suicide bombers, while a third was likely triggered by a mobile phone.
Luyima said he chose the Ethiopian restaurant as a target because the blasts were likely to kill Ethiopians and Westerners.
Hardline Islamists accuse Somalia’s beleaguered interim government of being a puppet of the West and Ethiopia. The latter invaded its neighbor in late 2006 to force an Islamist movement out of Somalia’s capital Mogadishu.
“That was my rage and that’s why I picked on the Ethiopian restaurant because of that mix-up of Ethiopians and Westerners, Ethiopians are also a big part of our enemy,” Luyima said.
Three Kenyans have been charged with several counts of murder and terrorism for their roles in the attacks.
Luyima and his accomplices have not yet been charged, but have confessed to planning and facilitating the attacks, including renting a house to host the suicide bombers, transporting them to their targets and planting a fourth bomb that was defused by the police before it exploded.
DEBT BREAK: Friedrich Merz has vowed to do ‘whatever it takes’ to free up more money for defense and infrastructure at a time of growing geopolitical uncertainty Germany’s likely next leader Friedrich Merz was set yesterday to defend his unprecedented plans to massively ramp up defense and infrastructure spending in the Bundestag as lawmakers begin debating the proposals. Merz unveiled the plans last week, vowing his center-right Christian Democratic Union (CDU)/Christian Social Union (CSU) bloc and the center-left Social Democratic Party (SPD) — in talks to form a coalition after last month’s elections — would quickly push them through before the end of the current legislature. Fraying Europe-US ties under US President Donald Trump have fueled calls for Germany, long dependent on the US security umbrella, to quickly
RARE EVENT: While some cultures have a negative view of eclipses, others see them as a chance to show how people can work together, a scientist said Stargazers across a swathe of the world marveled at a dramatic red “Blood Moon” during a rare total lunar eclipse in the early hours of yesterday morning. The celestial spectacle was visible in the Americas and Pacific and Atlantic oceans, as well as in the westernmost parts of Europe and Africa. The phenomenon happens when the sun, Earth and moon line up, causing our planet to cast a giant shadow across its satellite. But as the Earth’s shadow crept across the moon, it did not entirely blot out its white glow — instead the moon glowed a reddish color. This is because the
Romania’s electoral commission on Saturday excluded a second far-right hopeful, Diana Sosoaca, from May’s presidential election, amid rising tension in the run-up to the May rerun of the poll. Earlier this month, Romania’s Central Electoral Bureau barred Calin Georgescu, an independent who was polling at about 40 percent ahead of the rerun election. Georgescu, a fierce EU and NATO critic, shot to prominence in November last year when he unexpectedly topped a first round of presidential voting. However, Romania’s constitutional court annulled the election after claims of Russian interference and a “massive” social media promotion in his favor. On Saturday, an electoral commission statement
Chinese authorities increased pressure on CK Hutchison Holdings Ltd over its plan to sell its Panama ports stake by sharing a second newspaper commentary attacking the deal. The Hong Kong and Macau Affairs Office on Saturday reposted a commentary originally published in Ta Kung Pao, saying the planned sale of the ports by the Hong Kong company had triggered deep concerns among Chinese people and questioned whether the deal was harming China and aiding evil. “Why were so many important ports transferred to ill-intentioned US forces so easily? What kind of political calculations are hidden in the so-called commercial behavior on the
RSS