Arusha: Bodaboda man charged with bombing of church

By Peter Saramba.

Arusha. A suspect in the last week’s bomb attack here was charged yesterday with 21 accounts of murder and attempted murder even as four people from the Middle East who were initially under suspicion were set free.

Mr Victor Ambrose Calist, 20, a motorcycle taxi operator who was arrested soon after the incident, faces three counts of murder and 18 of attempted murder. Mr Calist, who appeared before Resident Magistrate Devotha Kamuzora, did not enter a plea because the court does not have the jurisdiction to hear the case.

It was adjourned until May 27 and Mr Ambrose was taken to remand prison.He is the only suspect so far in the bomb attack at St Elizabeth Parish in Olasiti, Arusha, on May 5. The dead include a nine-year-old girl. Sixty other people were injured in the attack and 31 are in hospitals in Arusha, Moshi and Dar es Salaam.

The attack on the church took place as the Holy See’s envoy to Tanzania, Archbishop Francisco Padilla, and Arusha Archbishop Josephat Lebulu were opening a new church building.

The three United Arab Emirates citizens and Saudi Arabia national who were also held following the attack were freed after investigations established they had nothing to do with the killings.

Arusha Regional Police Commander Lebaratus Sabas said at a press briefing yesterday that the four were arrested as they were leaving a hotel in Arusha soon after the attack. “Our joint investigations with the American Federal Bureau of Investigation and Interpol found out that the Emiratis and the Saudi were innocent and had no links whatsoever with terrorism,” Mr Sabbas noted. “They are public servants in their countries of origin. They have been released and are already on their way back to their countries.”

The four are Abdul Aziz Mubarak, 30, who works with the UAE’s revenue authority, Fouad Saleem Ahmed Al Hareez Al Mahri, 29, who works with the UAE’s fire brigade and Daeed Abdulla Saad, 28, who is a traffic police officer in the UAE. Mr Sabbas did not mention the profession of Al-Mahri Saeed Mohseen, 29.

Arusha deputy regional Immigration commander Vitalis Mlay said the four had already departed. Mr Sabbas added: “They were handed over to the immigration department to check if their entry into the country followed procedures. We cleared them and suggested that they leave the country immediately in the public interest. So they were driven to Dar es Salaam under the escort of immigration officials at the weekend and they left through the Julius Nyerere International Airport (JNIA)the same weekend.”

The four arrived in Dar es Salaam on May 4, a day before the attacks. They travelled to Arusha and arrived early in the morning on May 5, when the blast occurred. Their visa indicated that they were tourists intending to stay for three days. The two hosts of the foreigners, who were also arrested, are still being questioned.

They are Mohamed Suleiman Saad, 38 and a Dar es Salaam resident, and Jasm Mubarak, 29, from Arusha. Both are Tanzanian nationals of Yemeni descent. Two other suspects are still being held.

Meanwhile, Inspector General of Police (IGP) Said Mwema said the police have requested bomb experts from Nairobi to join the investigation.

According to the IGP, crime networks have been operating in both Kenya and Tanzania and this calls for urgent action to weed them out. “We want to identify if the bomb that was used by the culprits to kill innocent people in Arusha is the same as those used by criminals in Kenya,’’ Mr Mwema said when fielding questions from journalists on the sidelines of a meeting of regional IGPs.

In another development, Roman Catholic Priest Anton Makunde said he had confidence in domestic and international security agencies probing the Arusha bombing. Fr Makunde, who is also the secretary general of the Tanzania Episcopal Conference, said:

“We pray that those who are behind this tragedy be known... We believe God will bless efforts made by security organs in tracing, hunting, catching and bringing them to justice.”

Additional reporting by Katare Mbashiru and Louis Kolumbia.


Source: http://www.thecitizen.co.tz/News/Bodaboda-man-charged-with-bombing-of-church/-/1840392/1851652/-/6lbkuhz/-/index.html