Woman tries to arm city bomb suspect
Dec 05, 2010
SECURITY personnel are holding a woman who attempted to smuggle a knife to one of the terrorism suspects being held at Luzira Upper Prison.
By Charles Ariko
SECURITY personnel are holding a woman who attempted to smuggle a knife to one of the terrorism suspects being held at Luzira Upper Prison.
The woman identified as Faridah Hamubu on Thursday tried to smuggle the knife to Omar Awadh Omar, the second-in-command of the al-Qaeda terrorist cell in East Africa.
Omar is being held on charges of terrorism, murder and attempted murder.
The knife was hidden in a pineapple that Hamubu had carried for Omar alongside other items on the visitation day for inmates.
“She came with very many things. The warders started checking the items one by one as is the practice. When they got hold of the pineapple and plucked off the leaves on top, it (pineapple) split into two, exposing a big, sharp knife that had been hidden in the middle,†a warder said.
Awadh is believed to be the architect of the July-11 twin bomb blasts in Kampala that left 76 people dead and over 50 injured.
Awadh is a Kenyan citizen. Kenyan intelligence believe he is high in the hierarchy of the terror cell and is second to the region’s al-Qaeda boss, Harun Fazul.
Sources at Luzira said Hamubu at the prison at around 11:00am and registered to see Awadh and al -Amin Kimathi.
The source said Hamubu was in the company of one of the terror suspects who had been released two days earlier by the Nakawa Chief Magistrates’ Court.
Upon discovering the knife, Hamubu was arrested and later taken away by security personnel who were called in to pick her.
Awadh has been in detention since September. He was committed to the High Court last week by the Nakawa court to face trial for 89 offences. The offences attract a death sentence on conviction.
Both Awadh and Kimathi, a Muslim rights activist, were charged in court after being arrested in a Kampala hotel on September 15.
They were arrested alongside Mbugua Mureithi, a Kenyan defence lawyer, who was deported to Kenya.
SECURITY personnel are holding a woman who attempted to smuggle a knife to one of the terrorism suspects being held at Luzira Upper Prison.
The woman identified as Faridah Hamubu on Thursday tried to smuggle the knife to Omar Awadh Omar, the second-in-command of the al-Qaeda terrorist cell in East Africa.
Omar is being held on charges of terrorism, murder and attempted murder.
The knife was hidden in a pineapple that Hamubu had carried for Omar alongside other items on the visitation day for inmates.
“She came with very many things. The warders started checking the items one by one as is the practice. When they got hold of the pineapple and plucked off the leaves on top, it (pineapple) split into two, exposing a big, sharp knife that had been hidden in the middle,†a warder said.
Awadh is believed to be the architect of the July-11 twin bomb blasts in Kampala that left 76 people dead and over 50 injured.
Awadh is a Kenyan citizen. Kenyan intelligence believe he is high in the hierarchy of the terror cell and is second to the region’s al-Qaeda boss, Harun Fazul.
Sources at Luzira said Hamubu at the prison at around 11:00am and registered to see Awadh and al -Amin Kimathi.
The source said Hamubu was in the company of one of the terror suspects who had been released two days earlier by the Nakawa Chief Magistrates’ Court.
Upon discovering the knife, Hamubu was arrested and later taken away by security personnel who were called in to pick her.
Awadh has been in detention since September. He was committed to the High Court last week by the Nakawa court to face trial for 89 offences. The offences attract a death sentence on conviction.
Both Awadh and Kimathi, a Muslim rights activist, were charged in court after being arrested in a Kampala hotel on September 15.
They were arrested alongside Mbugua Mureithi, a Kenyan defence lawyer, who was deported to Kenya.