Bomb suspect gets 59 years in prison

ALEX B. ATUHAIRE & VINCENT AGOYA 

IN SUMMARY: Al Shabaab terrorist admits to plotting deadly attacks in Nairobi and Kampala ahead of Independence Day celebrations.

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A Kenyan court yesterday afternoon sentenced a suspected terrorist, arrested last week in what security agencies said was a conspiracy to launch major terror attacks on Nairobi and Kampala, to 59 years in jail.

Mr Omar Abdi Aden alias Salaman Abdi, 26, was convicted on his own plea of guilty to nine terrorism charges. Mr Abdi, who confessed to being a member of the Islamic extremist group, al-Shabaab, was arrested last week together with his co-accused Abdi Majid Yassin alias Ali Hussein by the Kenyan ant-terrorism police in a sting operation.

Detectives recovered four suicide bomb vests, six suicide bombs, 12 hand grenades, four rifles, six bullet proof jackets, 40 kilogrammes of explosive material and 484 bullets along Fourth Avenue in Eastleigh, Nairobi, Kenya.

Chief Magistrate Lucy Nyambura said the suspect showed no remorse and penalised him on the weight of what the outcome of the planned attacks would have been were it not nipped in the bud.

Mr Yassin denied the charges and is set for trial in October.

Planned attacks

Last week, Uganda’s Inspector General of Police Lt. Gen. Kale Kayihura issued fresh terror alerts ahead of the jubilee celebrations slated for October 9.

Lt. Gen. Kayihura said the two suspects now in Kenyan jail were part of the plan by the Somalia-based al-Shabaab to unleash simulated terror attacks on the country in the build-up the country’s Golden Jubilee Independence celebrations.

According to Lt. Gen. Kayibura, attempts to verify the threats led police to the two suspects and subsequent recovery of the deadly arsenal.

Past attack

The last terror alert in Uganda was issued in July 2012, following the entrance of some al-Shabab agents into the country. The threats were shortly followed by bomb attacks in the Kenyan capital and kidnaps in that country’s coastal city of Mombasa.

The police have consistently been issuing terror alerts since the July 2010 bombings on Ethiopian Restaurant and Kyadondo Rugby Club in Kampala. 

Uganda and Kenya have become target areas for the al-Qaeda-linked militants, due to their support for Somalia’s transitional government under the wings of the African Union.

Source: Daily Monitor (21/09/2012): http://www.monitor.co.ug/News/National/Bomb+suspect+gets+59+years+in+prison/-/688334/1513296/-/s51mss/-/index.html