Uganda: January 29, 2002

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Heres a follow-up on reports that Ugandan police and military intelligence are looking into terrorist connections throughout East Africa. The War on Terror has a real local dimension in East Africa. There have been a number of such reports, some much more speculative than others. StrategyPage has run a representative sample. AFP recently ran a story based on an interview with Katumba Wamala, identified as a Police Chief Major General in the AFP story. In fact, Edward Katumba Wamala is Inspector General of Police in Uganda and chairs the East African regional Police Chiefs Council. As Inspector General of Police he is responsible for police operations and internal security. Before he became the police inspector general, Wamala was also Ugandas senior military officer in the DRC, with his headquarters at Gbadolite. According to Ugandan sources, he has also worked with the Chieftaincy of Military Intelligence, or CMI, Ugandas military intelligence group. In the AFP interview, Wamala said that Feroz Abbasi (identified as an Al Qaeda member and currently held by the US in Guantanamo Bay) was in Uganda during a series of bomb attacks. The bomb attacks were attributed to that hazy rebel organization, the Allied Democratic Front (ADF). Uganda claims the ADF is led from exile by Sheik Jamil Mukulu and has ties to Islamist organizations. Several of these bomb attacks occurred in Kampala (and were reported on StrategyPage). Uganda now believes Abbasi may have been connected to those attacks. Abassis mother has Ugandan citizenship (and according to AFP is related to a Ugandan government minister). Abassi was taken prisoner in action at Kunduz, Afghanistan. (Austin Bay).

 

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