Ex-Guantanamo inmate among arrests for murder of Uganda prosecutor: US

Uganda's inspector general of police Kale Kayihura (right) pays his last respects in front of the coffin carrying the remains of acting assistant director of public prosecutions Joan Kagezi on April 2, 2015 in Kampala. AFP PHOTO | ISAAC KASAMANI

What you need to know:

  • Kagezi was shot dead by men on a motorbike as she drove home in a suburb of the capital.
  • Al-Qaeda linked Al-Shabaab militants claimed responsibility for the attack.

WASHINGTON

The United States said Wednesday a former Guantanamo prison detainee was among several suspects it helped Ugandan authorities arrest in connection with the murder of a prosecutor overseeing the trial of men linked to 2010 Al-Shabaab bombings in Kampala.

US State Department spokeswoman Marie Harf did not elaborate on exactly what assistance the country gave in the operation.

Harf confirmed one of those arrested in the raid had been a former detainee at the controversial Guantanamo military jail who was released in 2006.

Ugandan authorities made the arrests in connection with the murder of Joan Kagezi, acting assistant director of public prosecution, who was killed in Kampala on March 30.

Kagezi was shot dead by men on a motorbike as she drove home in a suburb of the capital. She had been prosecuting 13 men on trial for involvement in twin 2010 suicide bombings in the capital which left 76 people dead.

One of the suicide bombers detonated explosives in an Ethiopian restaurant while a second attacker targeted a packed rugby club bar screening the World Cup final in South Africa. Somalia's

Al-Qaeda linked Al-Shabaab militants claimed responsibility for the attack.

The 13 men on trial include seven Kenyans, five Ugandans and a Tanzanian national. The case opened on March 17 but has been postponed indefinitely since Kagezi's murder.