UGANDA CONVICTS TWO MEN FOR 2010 BOMBINGS

Uganda on Wednesday convicted two men who pleaded guilty for their role in July 2010 bomb attacks that killed at least 76 people, the region’s worst attacks in more than a decade.

Edris Nsubuga, a Ugandan, on Tuesday admitted to charges of terrorism while fellow countryman Muhamoud Mugisha pleaded guilty to conspiracy to commit terrorism.

They will be sentenced on Friday, while the trial of 12 other suspects is due to resume on November 15.

Prosecutors dropped murder charges against Nsubuga, calling on the judge not to impose the maximum sentence of the death penalty for the terrorism conviction, as he had admitted his guilt and cooperated with authorities.

“In the circumstance the state prays for an appropriate and deterrent custodial sentence,” Lino Anguza, a state prosecutor, told the court.

Twin suicide bombers struck bars in Kampala where people had gathered to watch the World Cup final on July 11 last year.

The attacks were claimed by Somalia’s Al-Qaeda-inspired Shabaab rebels in revenge for Ugandan military involvement in the African Union’s force protecting the Western-backed Somali government.

Eleven suspects – including seven Kenyans, three Ugandans and a Tanzanian – pleaded not guilty to murder and terrorism charges earlier this week.

One other Ugandan pleaded not guilty to two lesser charges.

“The sentencing of the two convicts will be on Friday, and the hearing for the rest of the suspects will begin 15 November this year,” said judge Alfonse Owiny-Dollo.