20100713
allafrica

Nairobi — The discovery by Ugandan police of an unexploded suicide vest only a day after 76 people were killed in a double bombing in Kampala has sent terror fears across the region.

Some 76 soccer fans were killed when bomb blasts ripped through two bars during the World Cup final on Sunday.

In Nairobi, Parliament on Tuesday stood in solidarity with the victims of the bomb attacks with calls to the government to focus on protecting citizens. The lawmakers' calls come after attacks in Kampala which wounded 57 people among them a Kenyan, identified as Ms Alice Mueni.

Foreign Affairs Minister Moses Wetang'ula and Internal Security Minister George Saitoti declared that Kenya won't be cowed by the threats from al Shabaab, the Somali extremist group that has links to Osama bin Laden's al Qaeda, the global terrorist network.

Al Shabaab Islamists said on Monday they had carried out the attacks, but an official from the militant group said yesterday there had been no suicide bombers involved.

The vest was found on Monday in Makindye, a suburb of Kampala, and was consistent with evidence found at the other blast sites in the capital, Inspector General of Police Kale Kayihura told reporters.

Ugandan police said the vest was designed so it could be planted, rather than worn, and be used as an improvised bomb.

"Rage (al Shabaab spokesman) blessed those who carried out the attack and expected a long life for them. That shows there was no suicide bomb. These were planted," a man who identified himself as Yonis, an assistant to al Shabaab spokesman Sheikh Ali Mohamud Rage, told Reuters by telephone.

Coordinated attacks are a hallmark of al Qaeda. If confirmed to be the work of al Shabaab, it would be the first time the militants have taken their push for power internationally.

Mr Kayihura gave no further details on how many suspects had been detained or where they were from. The al Shabaab militants have threatened more attacks unless Uganda and Burundi withdraw their peacekeepers from the African Union peacekeeping force in Somalia (Amisom). They control large areas the south and centre of the anarchic country.

But regional bloc, Igad, said it would not cower in the face of threats and would continue to support the Western-backed government in Somalia.

"We shall continue with our plans to increase peacekeepers in Somalia to over 8,000 and we hope to have the extra troops in the country by the second week of August," executive secretary Mahboud Maalim told journalists in Nairobi.

Last week IGAD members Kenya, Uganda, Sudan, Ethiopia, Somalia and Djibouti said they initially wanted 20,000 troops from the AU and United Nations deployed in Somalia.

In Nairobi, Mr Wetang'ula told Parliament: "We want to send a clear warning to al Shabaab that we'll not sit back and wait for them to do a similar act like they did in Uganda. This government and the people of Kenya will not act in fear or fear to act with regard to fighting terrorism."

Prof Saitoti said Kenya was on high alert, but noted that even with the heightened surveillance "sometimes terrorists do sneak in."

Mr Wetang'ula blamed the international community for failing to provide Sh80 billion needed to stabilise Somalia.

"Somalia hasn't gotten the attention it deserves from the international community," he added.

Mr Wetang'ula said Igad had decided to intervene and end the chaos in the war-torn country. But Mr Gideon Konchella (Kilgoris, PNU) said the only way the region can end the chaos in Somalia is to invade it and restore order.

"You can only do it by force, not by engaging them softly," said Mr Konchella.

Deputy Speaker Farah Maalim said it was futile for the region to assume that just because it has formed a government for Somalia then all will be well.

"How does a civilian politician, in a government formed in Nairobi, go to Mogadishu in Somalia and establish law and order?" asked Mr Maalim.

Mr John Mbadi (Gwassi, ODM) and Mr Danson Mungatana (Garsen, Narc-K) questioned the level of security within the country's borders.

They cited the weekend discovery of 300 explosive detonators in Ongata Rongai town, near Nairobi, and the arrest of foreigners in Ngong as evidence that perhaps the security forces were sleeping on the job.

However, Mr Wetang'ula said the foreigners and the detonators had been found because of the vigilance. He said many more people were under surveillance and many more arrests had been made only that the government did not want to "parade everything" before the public.

Dr Boni Khalwale (Ikolomani, New Ford Kenya) said Kenya ought to help in providing medical support to Uganda and even fly over the injured Kenyan for treatment in Nairobi "because hospitals in Kampala are not as good as the ones in Nairobi."

Tempers flared in the House when Dr Khalwale said Somali nationals in Eastleigh were a security threat. Mr Maalim rose to reject the assertion and said those living in Eastleigh were Kenyans. He said such claims had made the government begin ethnic profiling of Kenyans, thereby fueling xenophobic tensions.

The chairman of Parliament's Committee on Defence and Foreign Relations, Mr Adan Keynan, joined the deputy Speaker in rejecting any attempt by Kenya to send the army into Somalia.

Mr Wetang'ula ruled out a military option for Kenya saying the situation will be handled by the African Union when it meets in Kampala next week.

"Terrorism is not about Kenya. It's an international network that we must keep on engaging," he said.