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Obama: Uganda Bombings Indicate Vision of 'Destruction and Death'

   VOA News 14 July 2010
   President Barack Obama (file photo)

Photo: AP

   President Barack Obama (file photo)

   U.S. President Barack Obama says the bombings in Uganda that killed 76
   people  watching  the  World  Cup  final  on television show extremist
   militant groups have a vision of "destruction and death" for Africa.
   In an interview with the South African Broadcasting Company, scheduled
   to  air  Wednesday,  Mr.  Obama  contrasted  this vision with one of a
   unified, modernizing Africa.
   He  also said the deadly bombings indicate the Islamist extremists who
   have claimed responsibility are not considering long-term consequences
   as they wage ideological battles and kill innocent bystanders.
   The  Somali Islamic militant group al-Shabab says they were behind the
   bombings   at   two   sites   in   Uganda's  capital,  Kampala.   The
   al-Qaida-linked  group  said  the  attacks  were  revenge for Uganda's
   participation in an African Union peacekeeping force that supports the
   Somali government, and that more attacks would follow.
   Authorities  say they have arrested four foreigners in connection with
   an  unexploded  suicide  bomb vest found at a third site.  They would
   not say their nationalities.
   Most  of  those  who  died  Sunday  were  watching  the  World  Cup on
   big-screen  televisions  at a rugby club in Kampala.  The others died
   in a blast that targeted an Ethiopian restaurant.
   Al-Shabab  had  never  before mounted a major terrorist attack outside
   Somalia.   And  the  White  House  says  the  FBI  is helping Ugandan
   authorities in the investigation.
   Ugandan  police  say  a  Ugandan  Muslim  militant  group - the Allied
   Democratic Forces - may have had a role in Sunday's attacks.
   Police  said  at  least  60  of  the victims in Sunday's bombings were
   Ugandans.   The  others included people from Ethiopia or Eritrea, one
   American aid worker, an Irish woman and one Asian. Â

   Some information for this report was provided by AFP and AP.

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