Ethiopian restaurant attacker found guilty of terrorism

Addis Ababa, May 26, 2016 (FBC) – The mastermind of the 2010 bomb attacks in Uganda’s capital, Kampala, which killed 74 people, has been found guilty of terrorism.

Ugandan Isa Ahmed Luyima is one of 13 men on trial at Kampala’s High Court.

The Somalia-based Islamist militant group al-Shabab said it was behind the bombings, which happened during a screening of the World Cup final.

This is thought to be the first major conviction of an al-Shabab suspect in the region.

The militants targeted Uganda as the country’s army provides the largest number of troops to an African Union force fighting them in Somalia.

Two sites were attacked, a rugby club and an Ethiopian restaurant.

Of the 13 men on trial, five are Ugandans, six are Kenyans and two are from Tanzania.

Kenyans Idris Magondu and Suleiman Njoroge were also convicted on terror charges.

But another Kenyan, Sulaiman Mbuthia, has been found not guilty of terrorism because of a lack of evidence.

The case was brought to court after a major investigation across East Africa, which was led by the American FBI.

A mobile phone found next to a bomb that failed to detonate helped investigators track down most of the suspects, says the BBC’s Catherine Byaruhanga in Kampala.

The trial was delayed following allegations by some of the accused, including Luyima, that they were tortured by regional, US and British law enforcement agents.

Some also said they were abducted from Kenya or Tanzania and brought to Uganda to be prosecuted.

The Constitutional Court put aside those claims and said the trial could go ahead.

The verdicts for the remaining nine are being read out by the judge.